Mandatory Fail: How Course Grading Policies Can Exclude Learners

At one point in my life I took a class that had a mandatory fail policy. This meant that a line would be drawn below which certain cumulative grades would be designated as failing. Essentially, someone would fail. 

This policy was very challenging for me for many reasons. As a Black female it compounded the negative impacts of stereotype threat, the social stigma pressure I already felt to demonstrate my intelligence. The setup made it feel as if I was in competition with my peers and that my primary goal was to do better than them so that I would not be one of the “failures.” The focus of the class became less on learning and more on the actual grades received. The premise was that someone had to fail. What if everyone did relatively well? Did that mean that we could still fail with good grades? These were unknowns, and I did not want to risk finding out the answers too late. What were the goals of this policy, and how did they actually support the learning process? Unfortunately, none of this was communicated to the class so we were left to wonder. 

The mandatory fail policy threatened my sense of belonging in the class. I ultimately did not fail, but the experience turned me away from taking similar classes in a subject where I once felt very confident and had many achievements. Even if those future classes had different grading policies, it didn’t matter. The experience was not welcoming and had a profound and lasting impact on me as a learner. 

I share this personal story to highlight how the policies we create can impact our learners, and may have differential effects on students from groups that have been historically excluded in education. If we want to increase students’ sense of belonging and the diversity of our fields, we need to reevaluate our policies and ensure they are not, even if unintentionally, exclusionary. As I described on the Lecture Breakers podcast, undergoing the reflective process of asking “Which learners could be excluded?” when designing a course, an assignment, or using particular teaching practices can challenge us all to be more inclusive in our teaching. We may also benefit from asking this question in community with others who can help us identify any blindspots.