Based on 78 community votes, the most popular answer to “Do I Expose My Professor's Unfair Grading?” is “Report professor’s behavior to department” — chosen by 23% of voters.
Category: education • Theme: Justice for Students vs Protecting My Own Future
I’m a teaching assistant for an upper-level university course, supervised by a tenured professor with a reputation for being hard but fair—or so I thought. One particular student, who’s outspoken and sometimes challenges the professor in class, handed in solid work all semester. When grading assignments, I noticed their essays were always marked several points lower than others, with comments that felt nitpicky and unusually harsh. On two essays I graded first—before the professor double-checked—my higher marks were crossed out and replaced with barely-passing grades. It started to feel personal, like the professor was punishing the student for disagreeing rather than being objective.<br><br>I’ve tried to tell myself maybe I’m overreacting. But I compared this student’s essays to others side-by-side; the quality is there, even better than some who got higher grades. I can’t stop thinking about how much the student’s GPA and financial aid could be affected. At the same time, I’m not a full employee—if I challenge my supervisor, it could ruin my own academic reputation and recommendations. The professor could easily make things hard for me or even get me removed from the program. I’m stuck: do I report what I believe is an injustice and risk everything, stay silent to protect myself, or try to help discretely without drawing attention to my involvement? What would YOU do?
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