Biased grades? Changes in grading after a blinding of examinations reform

Abstract

Group differences in average grades prior to and after a step-wise introduction of blinded examinations at Stockholm University are examined. Relative to students with ‘native’ names, students with ‘foreign’ names appear to experience weak positive bias in the grading of their examinations, but the estimated effect is sensitive to model specification. No substantial effects of blinding examinations with respect to male-female gaps are found. The results suggest that examiners–when the names of students are disclosed to them–if anything have a weak tendency to positively discriminate for students perceived to have an immigrant background, but they do not appear to discriminate on the basis of gender.