Inside Higher Ed reports on a new study purporting to find differences between how self-identified Republicans and self-identified Democrats grade their students.
A forthcoming study finds that there may be notable differences. Democratic professors appear to be “more egalitarian” than their Republican counterparts when it comes to grading, meaning that more of the Democratic grades are in the middle. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to award very high grades and very low grades.
Another key difference is that black students tend to fare better with Democrats than with Republicans. . . .
While the authors don’t endorse the grading style of either Democrats or Republicans, they conclude their paper by arguing that people (such as those concerned about grade distribution) seeking to influence grading policies should pay more attention to the political factor. “Our results suggest that the allocation of grades is associated with the world view or ideology of professors,” the authors write.