For a long time, school and final grades were among the most important Personnel selection criteria.
The advantages of grades in school and university are obvious: Grades are (seemingly) easy to compare, are usually always available to the HR manager and provide clues about the applicant's intelligence and diligence. But is that really true?
Let's take a closer look at four myths about school grades...
Myth 1: Grades make it possible to fairly compare applicants' performance
Grades at school, university or in education — everyone receives them (e.g. in the form of certificates) and everyone shares them with future employers when they apply for a job. For now, this has a number of advantages. For example, so many applicants can be compared with each other in a short period of time. It is not for nothing that grades were developed with the aim, among other things, of making student and student achievements comparable.
However, a fair comparison based on school grades is often not successful
On the one hand, this is also due to the fact that grades are always compared to the performance of the other students in the class. On the one hand, the problem is that between federal states, schools and even individual classes There are usually strong differences in requirements, which students must meet in order to receive a specific grade.
- A student with a three in math in federal state X with teacher Y doesn't necessarily have to be worse
- as a student with a full score on a math test in federal state Y with teacher X.
On the other hand, the Evaluation of performance by teachers is often not objective. For example, if you submit tests or essays to several teachers, they often come up with different results.
But at least academic degrees are easy and objective to compare, right?
Again, making a comparison is not as easy as it seems at first glance. Because while a degree from an elite university often speaks for itself, comparing academic degrees at colleges and universities in Germany and abroad is becoming increasingly difficult in an increasingly globalized and diverse educational landscape.
Grades to objectively compare performance? That often looks different in reality! A comparison based on ranking ranges is more suitable.
Myth 2: Poor grades indicate a low level of intelligence on the part of applicants
The average grade in Abitur and university is linked to intelligence — this has been scientifically proven (Schuler 2014). Choosing grades as an indicator of the applicant's intelligence therefore doesn't seem to be too bad a selection strategy. But care should be taken here too! Because school grades not only record intelligence, but also motivation to perform, diligence and the willingness of students to to adapt to existing systems.
- While students with very good grades are usually intelligent (and also adaptable and hard-working),
- Conversely, you cannot automatically infer the opposite.
For example, students with a poor average grade can be quite intelligent, but only interested in certain subjects (such as programming) and have little motivation to learn topics that seem boring to them.
Bad grades = lack of intelligence? That doesn't have to be true!
Myth 3: Above-average performance at school and university leads to above-average performance at work
Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. This is a central axiom of psychological research (Sutton, 1994; Norman & Conner, 1996). And even scientifically, there is a medium connection between academic performance and professional success (Schmidt & Hunter 1998). Grades as an indicator of professional success? That therefore appears useful.
However, it is important to note that the strength of the correlation between grades and intelligence is in the middle range (r = .34) and thus falls far short of the strength of the correlation between intelligence tests and professional success (r = .67, Schmidt & Hunter 1998). On the one hand, this means that professional success can be predicted more reliably with the help of aptitude diagnostic data than with school grades. On the other hand, this means that the relationship between grades and professional success is of course far from a perfect relationship (r = 1).
As a result, although applicants with good grades are more successful at work on average than those with poor grades, there are a number of exceptions. This is particularly the case when:
- which Tasks at work have little to do with what is taught at university
- The poor grades especially on lack of diligence are attributable to school and
- The new position is primarily about Questioning the status quo and to continuously develop (e.g. in start-ups with agile working methods).
Success in school and study = success at work. Not in the working world of the future.
Myth 4: School grades are out and will not play a role in the personnel selection of the future
So will academic degrees and grades no longer matter at all in the future? The clear answer to this question is: No!
School grades will continue to tell HR managers a lot about the applicant in a simple and quick way, whether about their intelligence or willingness to perform. However, this analysis makes it just as clear: School grades in an increasingly dynamic business world lose importance.
This is also shown by recent surveys among HR managers (Wirtschaftswoche 2016). By focusing purely on school grades, HR managers risk overlooking applicants' strengths and, in particular, development potential. Particularly in fast-paced and dynamic work environments, school grades will therefore only be able to provide a comprehensive picture of applicants in combination with further information about the applicant (e.g. aptitude diagnostic data on learning ability).
School grades: Yes, but please not without aptitude tests Potential analysis.
Sources
- Deimel, Rainer: On the Impossibility of Judging Objectively, ABA Fachverband, 2015
- Schmidt, F.L., & Hunter, J.E. (1998). The Validity and Utility of Selection Methods in Personnel Psychology: Practice and Theoretical Implications of 85 Years of Research Findings. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 262—274.
- Schuler, H. (2014). Psychological personnel selection (3rd ed.). Göttingen: Hogrefe.
- Sutton, S. (1994). The past predicts the future: Interpreting behaviour-behaviour relationships in social psychological models of health behaviour. In D. R. Rutter & L. Quine (Eds.), Social Psychology and Health: European Perspectives (pp. 71-88). Aldershot, England: Avebury Press.
- Velten, S. & Schnitzler, A. Prediction of educational success: What role do school grades and recruitment tests play? ; Vocational Training in Science and Practice, 6, 44—47.
- Business Week (2016). Notes lose value. https://www.wiwo.de/erfolg/hochschule/hochschulabschluesse-noten-verlieren-an-wert/10118304-3.html
Make a better pre-selection — even before the first interview
In just a few minutes, Aivy shows you which candidates really fit the role. Beyond resumes based on strengths.
