Let’s play a game of grade inflation
Using the article about Harvard’s grade inflation, we can create a game of grade inflation to explain important aspects of Game Theory – recurrent topic in our classes.
The increase in American GPA’s is a game that illustrates very well what’s called coordination failure, and the Tragedy of the Commons.
We create a game with all schools, and each school has the choice of staying strict about grades versus inflating grades. If every school could be strict, that would be best for everyone. Grades would mean something, and students would have to push themselves to learn. But if every other school is playing fair, what is your school’s best move?
If everyone else is playing honestly, then you can get a higher payoff by inflating grades. Your students will graduate with slightly better grades, and since employers won’t be aware of the grade inflation, your students will look slightly better than those from schools with honest grading.
The Tragedy of the Commons arises when every school realizes that and decide to inflate grades slowly. In the Tragedy of the Commons, a common good gets depleted because individuals rationally overuse it to the group’s detriment.
In the sense of grade inflation, now grades mean nothing, you no longer have an actual information about the student’s high and low points, because most students end up with A grades, and they do not have to study as hard to earn them.
Aware of that, employers will devalue the potential of an A grade. Inflation has been overused and the grades are no longer conveying an information of interest. The damage is done.
But how do we solve this issue?
Once grades mean little, the common good is depleted, the solution depends on a coordinated effort. It’s necessary for the players as a whole to agree in some standards. If all coordinate the game to play fairly, grades will regain their meaning and the problem would be solved.
Nevertheless, that’s against maximizing one’s payoff, because it means playing honestly and caring only for the overall good. That’s why the problem is not going to be easy to solve.
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