Students and faculty say that academic standards have remained static, but external pressures are increasing
Illustration by Sage Blackwell.
Any university student can tell you about the laundry list of stresses and pressures they face over the course of their studies. Combined with the pressure to do well academically, many students face stress from sources like the high cost of living, learning to live alone, and navigating interpersonal relationships, among others.
With the reality of student life changing and evolving over time, some students and faculty feel that academic standards should change as well, to better accommodate the present realities of student life. The Martlet spoke to current and former students to learn how academic standards at the University of Victoria (UVic) have changed over the years.
Compared to the standards employed by UVic over 40 years ago, the standards that current students are judged by do not seem to have changed much. Daniel Limawen attended UVic in 1984 to complete a BSc in psychology. Limawen spoke to the Martlet about his experiences at UVic in the 1980s, which showed similar grading standards to those students face today.
Limawen said he was mostly graded on exams and papers, and recalls that his final exams would have been worth around 50 and 60 per cent of his final grade. He describes the courses he took as “not for the faint of heart.”
Charlie Squires and his parents, Trevor and Helen, provide a diverse array of educational experience to draw from. Helen learned within a more flexible environment, studying music, dance, and drama at Middlesex University in London, United Kingdom. Helen comes from an academic family, with parents who attended, and even taught, in higher education. In Trevor’s family, his mom dropped out of high school, and his brother was the first member of his family to attend university. Trevor struggled in highnschool, dropped out, and continued on to become an accomplished programmer, as well as a teacher of programming for a short time.
Squires hasn’t felt much pressure from his parents, but he does feel the pressures coming from different departments at UVic. He also recognizes how different the motivations and pressures faced by his peers are. He told the Martlet that some of his peers were pursuing their majors out of interest, while some felt pressured to go to university to get a good job, and others were trying to find a balance between fulfilling their parents’ expectations and pursuing their own interests.
Dr. Georgia Sitara, a UVic professor of history and gender studies, told the Martlet in a statement that she’s noticed taking easy courses and getting easy grades are a higher priority for students now than it used to be.
Sitara believes her students see her as “tough but fair” in her grading, and said she takes teaching very seriously. She also recognizes that students are stretched thin, and being pushed to their limits by economic pressure. “When I was an undergraduate in Quebec in the late 1980s, it cost $50 per course. $500 covered a whole year’s tuition, whereas now, it covers the cost of one course.” According to UVic, tuition for a course in the humanities, where Sitara teaches, now costs just under $650 per course.
Sitara added that an undergraduate degree is more indispensable now than it’s ever been. “An undergraduate degree is the new high school equivalent,” she said.
Dr. Rebecca Gagan, a UVic professor of English, said in a statement to the Martlet that the standards that students are graded on have not changed within the English department in several years. She added, however, that while academic standards have remained consistent, the pressures students are facing have increased.
“The majority of students in my classes have part-time jobs, and some even have full-time jobs,” Gagan said, pointing out that due to financial pressures, many students have to choose between prioritizing their studies and prioritizing necessities like rent and food.
Gagan notes that the increase in online classes offered by some departments provides more accessibility, but recognizes that there are many barriers reducing access to university education.
“As university budgets continue to tighten, I worry that we will continue to see more and more students who are simply not able to access university education,” she said. To combat the pressures her students face, Gagan said she strives to make her students feel visible and less alone in the face of their challenges. In her view, her students are “humans first and students second.”
Although the academic standards faced by students don’t seem to have changed much over the years, the other realities of student life students are forced to contend with certainly have.
“I don’t think we can underestimate the very real weight of simply being a student in this historical moment,” Gagan said. “I have such admiration and respect for today’s students. They are advocates for themselves and others, bravely navigating not only the challenges of an often difficult and ever-changing academic landscape, but also a frequently brutal and distressing global context.”
