Discrimination in education#Teacher bias in grading

In several countries, teachers were shown to systematically give students different grades for an identical work, based on categories like ethnicity or gender.{{Cite web| title = Teacher Bias: The Elephant in the Classroom| work = The Graide Network| date = 27 August 2018| access-date = 2020-02-24| url = https://www.thegraidenetwork.com/blog-all/2018/8/1/teacher-bias-the-elephant-in-the-classroom}}{{Cite web| last = Sommers| first = Christina Hoff| title = The War Against Boys| work = The Atlantic| access-date = 2020-02-24| date = 2000-05-01| url = https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2000/05/the-war-against-boys/304659/}}{{Cite news| last = Coughlan| first = Sean| title = Teachers 'give higher marks to girls'| work = BBC News| access-date = 2020-02-24| date = 2015-03-05| url = https://www.bbc.com/news/education-31751672}}

According to the Education Longitudinal Study, "teacher expectations [are] more predictive of college success than most major factors, including student motivation and student effort".{{Cite web| title = Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002) - Overview: Purpose| access-date = 2020-02-24| url = https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/els2002/}}

Grading bias can be detected by comparing the outcome of exams where the teacher knows the student's characteristics with blind exams where the student is anonymous. This method may underestimate the bias since, for written exams, the handwriting style might still convey information about the student.{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1257/app.20140022| issn = 1945-7782| volume = 7| issue = 4| pages = 53–75| last1 = Breda| first1 = Thomas| last2 = Ly| first2 = Son Thierry| title = Professors in Core Science Fields Are Not Always Biased against Women: Evidence from France| journal = American Economic Journal: Applied Economics| date = October 2015}} According to the Experimental Evidence on Teachers' Racial Bias in Student Evaluation, "teachers rated a student's writing sample lower when it was randomly signaled to have a black author versus a white author. This study found that this bias was dependent on the teacher and their relationship and attitude towards race.{{Cite web |title=Experimental Research on Teachers' Racial Bias in Student Evaluation: The Role of Grading Scales |url=https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/dmq/files/quinn-racial-bias-grading-eepa-2020.pdf}}

Other studies apply the same method to cohorts spanning multiple years, to measure each teacher's individual biases.

{{Cite journal| last1 = Lavy| first1 = Victor| last2 = Megalokonomou| first2 = Rigissa| title = Persistency in Teachers' Grading Bias and Effects on Longer-Term Outcomes: University Admissions Exams and Choice of Field of Study| journal = National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series| access-date = 2020-02-24| date = 2019-06-27| url = https://www.nber.org/papers/w26021.pdf}}

Alternatively, teacher's grading bias can be measured experimentally, by giving teachers a fabricated assignment where only the name (and thus gender and ethnicity) of the student differs.{{Cite journal| doi = 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00481| pmid = 29867618| pmc = 5954233| issn = 1664-1078| volume = 9| last1 = Bonefeld| first1 = Meike| last2 = Dickhäuser| first2 = Oliver| title = (Biased) Grading of Students' Performance: Students' Names, Performance Level, and Implicit Attitudes| journal = Frontiers in Psychology| pages = 481| date = 2018| doi-access = free}}

{{Further|Discrimination against men#Education|Sex differences in education}}

Multiple studies in various disciplines and countries found that teachers systematically give higher grades to girls and women.

This bias is present at every level of education, in elementary school (United States

{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1353/jhr.2013.0002| issn = 1548-8004| volume = 48| issue = 1| pages = 236–264| last1 = Cornwell| first1 = Christopher| last2 = Mustard| first2 = David B.| last3 = Parys| first3 = Jessica Van| title = Noncognitive Skills and the Gender Disparities in Test Scores and Teacher Assessments: Evidence from Primary School| journal = Journal of Human Resources| date = 2013-01-31| hdl = 10419/55134| s2cid = 14856949| url = https://econpapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5973| hdl-access = free}}{{Cite journal| doi = 10.3102/0002831210372249| last1 = Robinson| first1 = Joseph Paul| last2 = Lubienski| first2 = Sarah Theule| title = The Development of Gender Achievement Gaps in Mathematics and Reading During Elementary and Middle School: Examining Direct Cognitive Assessments and Teacher Ratings| journal = American Educational Research Journal| date = 2011-04-01| s2cid = 16370254}}), middle school (France,{{Cite conference| publisher = Social Science Research Network| last = Terrier| first = Camille| title = Boys Lag Behind: How Teachers' Gender Biases Affect Student Achievement| location = Rochester, NY| date = 2016-11-14| ssrn = 2868309}} Norway,{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1111/j.1467-8586.2008.00278.x| issn = 1467-8586| volume = 60| issue = 3| pages = 245–264| last = Bonesrønning| first = Hans| title = The Effect of Grading Practices on Gender Differences in Academic Performance| journal = Bulletin of Economic Research| date = 2008| s2cid = 153670210}}

United Kingdom,{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2013.05.002| issn = 0047-2727| volume = 105| pages = 116–130| last1 = Ouazad| first1 = Amine| last2 = Page| first2 = Lionel| title = Students' perceptions of teacher biases: Experimental economics in schools| journal = Journal of Public Economics| date = 2013-09-01| url = http://cee.lse.ac.uk/ceedps/ceedp133.pdf| access-date = 2020-09-29| archive-date = 2021-09-01| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210901023616/http://cee.lse.ac.uk/ceedps/ceedp133.pdf| url-status = dead}} United States) and high school (Czech Republic{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1016/j.stueduc.2018.07.006| issn = 0191-491X| volume = 59| pages = 141–149| last1 = Protivínský| first1 = Tomáš| last2 = Münich| first2 = Daniel| title = Gender Bias in teachers' grading: What is in the grade| journal = Studies in Educational Evaluation| date = 2018-12-01| s2cid = 150342266}}).

Grading discrimination is also present in university admission exams: in the United States, the counselors who evaluate students for college admission favor women over men.

{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1016/j.econedurev.2017.08.004| issn = 0272-7757| volume = 60| pages = 86–96| last = Hanson| first = Andrew| title = Do college admissions counselors discriminate? Evidence from a correspondence-based field experiment| journal = Economics of Education Review| date = 2017-10-01| url = https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1578&context=econ_fac| url-access = subscription}}

In France, it was shown that in the admission exam for elite school École Normale Supérieure, juries were biased against men in male-dominated disciplines (such as mathematics, physics or philosophy) and biased against women in female-dominated ones (such as biology or literature).

Similar results were obtained for teacher's accreditation exams at the end of university.

{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1126/science.aaf4372| issn = 0036-8075 | volume = 353| issue = 6298| pages = 474–478| last1 = Breda| first1 = Thomas| last2 = Hillion| first2 = Mélina| title = Teaching accreditation exams reveal grading biases favor women in male-dominated disciplines in France| journal = Science| date = 2016-07-29| pmid = 27471301| bibcode = 2016Sci...353..474B | hdl = 10419/145213| s2cid = 8762245 | url = https://econpapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10079 | hdl-access = free}}

Female teachers tend to have a stronger pro-female bias than male teachers.

{{Cite journal| last1 = Lavy| first1 = Victor| last2 = Megalokonomou| first2 = Rigissa| title = Persistency in Teachers' Grading Bias and Effects on Longer-Term Outcomes: University Admissions Exams and Choice of Field of Study| journal = National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series| access-date = 2020-02-24| date = 2019-06-27| url = https://www.nber.org/papers/w26021.pdf}}

Using individual teacher effects, Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Camille Terrier showed that teachers' bias affects male students' motivation and impairs their future progress.{{Cite web| title = A helping hand for girls? Gender bias in marks and its effect on student progress {{!}} Institut des Politiques Publiques – IPP| date = 11 December 2014| access-date = 2020-02-24| url = https://www.ipp.eu/en/publication/n14-a-helping-hand-for-girls-gender-bias-in-marks-and-its-effect-on-student-progress/}}

It can also significantly affect the students' career decisions.

There is some evidence that students are aware of the unfair grading. For example, middle school boys tend to expect lower grades from female teachers.{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2013.05.002| issn = 0047-2727| volume = 105| pages = 116–130| last1 = Ouazad| first1 = Amine| last2 = Page| first2 = Lionel| title = Students' perceptions of teacher biases: Experimental economics in schools| journal = Journal of Public Economics| date = 2013-09-01| url = http://cee.lse.ac.uk/ceedps/ceedp133.pdf| access-date = 2020-09-29| archive-date = 2021-09-01| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210901023616/http://cee.lse.ac.uk/ceedps/ceedp133.pdf| url-status = dead}}

According to a 2018 study from Germany, students from the Turkish ethnic minority are given lower grades than native Germans. A 2024 study in Germany on anonymously graded tests found lower grades by immigrants were caused by performance gaps, while non-anonymous teacher ratings showed discrimination against native Germans.{{cite journal | first1=Julia |last1=Bredtmann| first2=Sebastian | last2=Otten | first3=Christina | last3=Vonnahme |title=Discrimination in Grading? Evidence on Teachers' Evaluation Bias Towards Minority Students | journal=RUHR Economic Papers| year=2024 |url=https://www.rwi-essen.de/fileadmin/user_upload/RWI/Publikationen/Ruhr_Economic_Papers/REP_24_1122.pdf}} Language difficulties were shown to not explain the observed disparities.

In 1999, National Union of Students (NUS) had called for the introduction of anonymous marking and claimed racial and sexual discrimination had impacted the results of students. NUS cited a study which showed "the marks awarded to black students at one London university were 4.2 per cent lower than those given to their white peers. And at a Welsh university, 42 per cent of men got first class or upper second degrees compared with 34 per cent of women. In Scotland, Asian students comprised 20 per cent of those on a particular course, but represented 80 per cent of those who had failed".{{cite web |last1=Smithers |first1=Rebecca |last2=Smithers |first2=By Rebecca |last3=Correspondent |first3=Education |title=NUS claims racial bias in exams |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/mar/10/rebeccasmithers |website=The Guardian |date=10 March 1999}}

According to a 2015 US study, classroom discussion around race today is much less negative than one would find in the past.{{cite journal |last1=Farago |first1=Flora |last2=Sanders |first2=Kay |last3=Gaias |first3=Larissa |title=Addressing Race and Racism in Early Childhood: Challenges and Opportunities |journal=Advances in Early Education and Day Care |date=3 October 2015 |volume=19 |pages=29–66 |doi=10.1108/S0270-402120150000019004|isbn=978-1-78560-293-1 }} This article discusses a process called anti-bias curriculum. This advocates for classroom and parent discussion around issues of discrimination, privilege, oppression, and racism with young children. This allows room for children to develop skills with these topics.

A 2015 study showed that African American middle and high school students who heard messages from teachers about ignoring race felt less connected to others at school

and held a more negative view of their academic abilities.

A 2017 UK study found that anonymous marking had a neligible impact in reducing performance differences between student populations from differing ethnic, sexual and socio-economic backgrounds.{{cite journal |last1=Hinton |first1=Daniel P. |last2=Higson |first2=Helen |title=A large-scale examination of the effectiveness of anonymous marking in reducing group performance differences in higher education assessment |journal=PLOS ONE |date=15 August 2017 |volume=12 |issue=8 |pages=e0182711 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0182711 |doi-access=free |pmid=28813457 |pmc=5557596 |bibcode=2017PLoSO..1282711H |language=en |issn=1932-6203|hdl=2436/620592 |hdl-access=free }}

A 2019 report by Universities UK found that student’s race and ethnicity significantly affect their degree outcomes. According to this report from 2017–18, there was a 13% gap between the likelihood of white students and Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students graduating with a first or 2:1 degree classification.{{cite web |title=The degree awarding gap - RGS |url=https://www.rgs.org/research/higher-education-resources/the-degree-awarding-gap |website=www.rgs.org |language=en}}{{cite web |title=Black, Asian and Minority Student Attainment at UK Universities: Close the gap |url=https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/sites/default/files/field/downloads/2021-07/bame-student-attainment.pdf}}

{{see also|Education in Australia}}

Australia has had a history of racial discrimination against Indigenous Australians in many areas, including education. In 1966, Australia signed the Convention against Discrimination in Education. Each state now has comprehensive anti-discrimination laws that prohibit such discrimination.{{cite web|title=Human rights |url=http://www.ag.gov.au/RightsAndProtections/HumanRights/Pages/default.aspx|publisher=Attorney-General of Australia|access-date=20 July 2015}} In 1992, Australia enacted the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cwth) to outlaw discrimination against students with disabilities.{{cite web |title=Disability standards for education |url=http://www.ag.gov.au/RightsAndProtections/HumanRights/DisabilityStandards/Pages/Disabilitystandardsforeducation.aspx |publisher=Attorney-General of Australia |access-date=20 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722064034/http://www.ag.gov.au/RightsAndProtections/HumanRights/DisabilityStandards/Pages/Disabilitystandardsforeducation.aspx |archive-date=22 July 2015 }}

Although all people are entitled to nine years of compulsory education in China, there are reports showing that minorities including people with disabilities are discriminated against in basic education.{{cite book|title="As Long as They Let Us Stay in Class" Barriers to Education for Persons with Disabilities in China|date=2013|publisher=Human Rights Watch|location=New York|isbn=9781623130343|url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/726990/as-long-as-they-let-us-stay-in-class-hrw.pdf}} An example of such discrimination that is reflected in the 2013 Human Rights Watch report is of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and intellectual disability who were denied enrollment in nearby schools due to their disabilities. Their parents then had to travel long distances from home to find a place for their disabled children for basic education.

There are also policies for geographical allocation of available sits in higher education system which led to regional discrimination in the Higher Education Entrance Examination. In China every person has a place of origin in connection to his/her birthplace, and moving or resettlement to provinces/zones other than the ones of origin are subject to receive permits from the authorities. The students subject to regional discrimination are those who managed to have a better record in the relevant exams but are denied studying at top universities due to their place of origin.

Cuba has a diverse and multicultural society and there is potentially an available arena for various forms of racial discrimination to grow. Some believe the Cuban educational system suffers from racial discrimination, especially against Afro-Cubans,{{cite web|title= Race as a Challenge to Cuba's Educational System- Havana times |url=http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=99205|date = October 2013}}{{cite news|title= For Blacks in Cuba, the Revolution Hasn't Begun- The New York Times |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/24/opinion/sunday/for-blacks-in-cuba-the-revolution-hasnt-begun.html|date = March 2013|last1=Zurbano |first1=Roberto }} but the existence of counterparts who believe otherwise{{cite web|title= Cuba Has No Racial Discrimination- Havana times |url=http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=90853l|date = April 2013}} can not be neglected.

In the 1960s and 1970s, when the sexual minority groups were sentenced to stay in rehabilitation camps, they automatically lost the opportunity for higher education and were bound to "re-education" by the state. In 2010, Fidel Castro acknowledged such discrimination during his rule, regretting that he did not pay enough attention to the "great injustice" suffered.{{cite web|title= Fidel Castro regrets discrimination against gays in Cuba- The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/cuba/7976488/Fidel-Castro-regrets-discrimination-against-gays-in-Cuba.html|date = September 2010}}

After the Islamic revolution, the new government focused on the Islamization of the country's educational system. Ruhollah Khomeini was in strong favor of single-sex schools and expressed it in his speech at the anniversary of the birth of Fatimah bint Muhammad, which soon became policy in the country. The political figure stated:{{blockquote|"As the religious leaders have influence and power in this country, they will not permit girls to study in the same school with boys. They will not permit women to teach at boys' schools. They will not permit men to teach at girls' schools. They will not allow corruption in this country."{{Cite book|title=After Khomeini : the Iranian Second Republic|last=Ehteshami, Anoushiravan.|date=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=020329775X|location=London|oclc=50322313}}}}The current constitution of Iran states in Article 4 that: "All civil, penal, financial, economic, administrative, cultural, military, political, and other laws and regulations must be based on Islamic criteria. This principle applies absolutely and generally to all articles of the Constitution as well as to all other laws and regulations" The cultural and religious embodiments of Androcentrism can be seen throughout the countries infrastructure and policies. For instance, Iran still considers ''household and childcare as women's primary responsibility,"{{Cite book|title=Women and politics in the Islamic republic of Iran : action and reaction|last=Vakil, Sanam.|date=2013|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=9781441192141|location=London|oclc=818460967}} as shown through the difference in school criteria between the two sexes. In addition, Bahá'í students have been systematically expelled from Iranian universities on grounds of religion.{{cite web|title= Bahá'í student expelled from Iranian university 'on grounds of religion'-The guardian|website=TheGuardian.com |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/feb/27/bahai-student-expelled-iranian-university|date = February 2013}}

{{see also|School segregation in the United States}}

The United States is not a signatory to the Convention against Discrimination in Education. The United States has always had institutional discrimination, with very high discrimination rates.{{cite journal |last1=Diem |first1=Sarah |last2=Welton |first2=Anjalé D. |last3=Brooks |first3=Jeffrey S. |date=18 October 2022 |title=Antiracism Education Activism: A Theoretical Framework for Understanding and Promoting Racial Equity |journal=AERA Open |volume=8 |doi=10.1177/23328584221126518 |doi-access=free }}{{Cite web |title=Racial and ethnic equity in US higher education |url=https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/education/our-insights/racial-and-ethnic-equity-in-us-higher-education |last1=Ellsworth |first1=Diana |last2=Harding |first2=Erin |last3=Law |first3=Jonathan |last4=Pinder |first4=Duwain |website=McKinsey & Company |date=18 July 2022 |access-date=9 July 2024 |language=en}} Segregating schools is a way in which low income students may be isolated from higher income students, which causes them to receive a less effective education.{{Cite web |title=The U.S. student population is more diverse, but schools are still highly segregated |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/07/14/1111060299/school-segregation-report |last1=Carrillo |first1=Sequoia |last2=Salhotra |first2=Pooja |website=NPR |date=14 July 2022 |access-date=9 July 2024 |language=en}} Students living in lower income communities receive, on average, less investment in their education than students in higher income communities.{{Cite book|title=The Shame of The Nation|last=Kozol|first=Jonathan|publisher=Crown Publisher|year=2005|isbn=1-4000-5244-0|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/shameofnationres00kozo/page/45 45]|url=https://archive.org/details/shameofnationres00kozo/page/45}}

Slaves were prohibited from attending schools and many were not allowed to learn to read or receive an education. Various minorities were barred from most schools that admitted white students. Segregation was enforced by laws in

U.S. states, primarily in the Southern United States, although segregation could also occur in informal systems or through social expectations and norms in other areas of the country. Segregation laws were met with resistance by Civil Rights activists and began to be challenged in 1954 by cases brought before the U.S. Supreme Court. Segregation continued longstanding exclusionary policies in much of the Southern United States (where most African Americans lived) after the Civil War. Jim Crow laws codified segregation. These laws were influenced by the history of slavery and discrimination in the US. Secondary schools for African Americans in the South were called training schools instead of high schools in order to appease racist whites and focused on vocational education.{{cite web | url=https://resource.rockarch.org/story/black-education-and-rockefeller-philanthropy-from-the-jim-crow-south-to-the-civil-rights-era/ | title=Black Education and Rockefeller Philanthropy from the Jim Crow South to the Civil Rights Era }} School integration in the United States took place at different times in different areas and often met resistance. After the ruling of Brown v. Board of Education, which banned segregated school laws, school segregation took de facto form.

School segregation declined rapidly during the late 1960s and early 1970s as the government became strict on schools' plans to combat segregation more effectively as a result of Green v. County School Board of New Kent County.{{Cite journal|last1=Reardon|first1=Sean F.|last2=Owens|first2=Ann|date=2014|title=60 Years After Brown: Trends and Consequences of School Segregation|url=https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-soc-071913-043152|journal=Annual Review of Sociology|language=en|volume=40|issue=1|pages=199–218|doi=10.1146/annurev-soc-071913-043152|issn=0360-0572|url-access=subscription}} Voluntary segregation by income appears to have increased since 1990. Racial segregation has either increased or stayed constant since 1990, depending on which definition of segregation is used.{{Cite web|last=Richmond|first=Emily|date=2012-06-11|title=Schools Are More Segregated Today Than During the Late 1960s|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/06/schools-are-more-segregated-today-than-during-the-late-1960s/258348/|access-date=2022-01-04|website=The Atlantic|language=en}} In general, definitions based on the amount of interaction between black and white students (exposure definitions) show increased racial segregation, while definitions based on the proportion of black and white students in different schools (unevenness definitions) show racial segregation remaining approximately constant.

• Academic bias
• English-language learner#Teacher biases and training
• Freedom of education
• Inclusion (education)
• Malala Yousafzai
• Psychological impact of discrimination on health
• Right to education

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education

Category:Education issues