Nearly 80 percent of grades at Yale are A's, reports Evan Gorelick in the Yale Daily News. That ranges from 52 percent in economics and 55 percent in math to 86 percent in education studies and 92 percent in gender studies.
STEM professors appear to be tougher graders.
The percentage of A grades had risen to 73 percent in 2018-19, according to a report to the faculty by economics professor Ray Fair. There's no data for 2019-20, because all grades were pass/fail in spring semester, but in 2020-21, the percentage of A grades jumped to 82 percent, said Fair. The "Covid effect" has more or less persisted."
"The Harvard Office of Undergraduate Education presented a similar report on grade inflation to the university’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences in October," writes Gorelick. Seventy-nine percent of Harvard grades were A's, and grades were lower in STEM courses, higher in the humanities.
Harvard out here becoming the Dodger Stadium of university beers: Watered down, overpriced, and lukewarm.
It's pretty clear that -- at Yale and presumably most "elite" universities -- one can usually judge the academic value of a major by the percent of A's given out. The higher the percentage of A's (literally) given away, the less value an employer should put on to the degree. Indeed, arguably students with degrees in "Oppression Theology" (who, according this study, almost ALL get pretty much straight A's) are ticking time bombs that should be avoided like the plague (I know -- mixed whatever -- sorry.)
I disagree. Most high schoolers don't know much about college grading practices. The women I knew who avoided STEM did so because they weren't interested. The thing is that an engineering degree is *hard* (as it needs to be) and lots of folks of all genders just prefer an easier path. You have to really WANT it to do all the work to get an engineering degree.
It would be interesting to look at gender breakdowns in various majors at various schools. I'll bet there are distinct patterns -- especially now that we have a gazillion genders.
I have always suspected that women do not major in engineering, physics, computer science or economics versus men because the A's are harder to get. After going through high school with all A's, women seem to interpret any grade lower than an A a reason to change majors and find some other major/pursuit. However, men are more used to being "punched in the mouth" and will stick it out.