Reduced to a Number: The validity of rating systems in academia
story by Megan Foster and Isaac Dobmeier, design by Deark Gamleah
With the internet at the tips of our fingers and our identities shielded behind a screen, we have the power to do a lot from our electronic devices. The modern higher education experience is steeped in technology. It permeates our social lives, our classes and our coursework.
Initially, coming to college can feel overwhelming. What classes should you take? What professors are good? How much homework will there be? The list goes on and on. Luckily, there are resources at students' disposal. But how reliable are these resources, really?
Rating systems in academia: RateMyProfessor
RateMyProfessor is a website that allows college students to submit and review ratings of colleges and the professors within. The criteria for accessing and submitting these ratings is remarkably simple. All students have to do is type the website name into the search bar and look up their university and/or professor. A tool like RateMyProfessor gives users a rough sense of what their upcoming course might look like, with categories in the reviews including topics such as attendance, workload and the final grade of the reviewer.
“I try to [look at RateMyProfessor] at least every quarter to see… but a lot of times some professors aren't on there,” Lizeth Martinez Arias, a sophomore in business administration, says. “It's kind of like a try-and-see situation to see if the professor is good or not.”
For some students, RateMyProfessor is an essential tool when registering for classes. Luys Soto, a junior information technology administrative management major, uses it at the start of every quarter “to kind of know what professors to look out for.”
Other students stick to their senses. Nic Palaia, a freshman film major, has never used RateMyProfessor. “I honestly don’t know how to use it,” he explains. “I didn’t even really know it was a thing.”
Rating systems in academia: SEOI
Quarterly Student Evaluations of Instruction (SEOIs) that are available on CWU Canvas pages are another avenue for providing professors with anonymous feedback. Directly sanctioned by CWU, participating in SEOIs is encouraged through a pop-up seen every time Canvas is opened.
Palaia has submitted an SEOI for every course he’s taken, hoping his feedback improves the class for next quarter’s group of students. “I had an acting professor earlier this year and… he just asked straight up like ‘What are some things that he could do better?’” Palaia says. “[According to] a friend of mine who is in the class with him right now, he has applied a lot of what we talked about…to his current class and apparently it's making it a much better experience.”
Viewing the feedback provided by students through the SEOI format is mandatory for instructors at CWU. For professors like Palaia’s, being receptive to this feedback allows for growth as a teacher in a way that best caters to the student population.
For other students, they may not feel that their teachers have been as receptive. “I know that the teachers are required to read them,” Brandon Mattesich, a freshman majoring in film, says. “Do I feel like they do much? Probably not.”
While it is required for professors to view the feedback that their students leave via SEOI, the overall effect it has on teaching is seen on a case-by-case basis. “I don't know… to what extent they use all those ratings for,” Soto says. “I know a professor sometimes will mention them in classes, talking about previous ratings and what they've done to sort of improve themselves.”
Behind a screen
With the anonymity that can come with an online presence, some users find themselves being more honest than they would in their everyday lives. “Yeah, I would say I would not be leaving negative reviews on teachers if they can see my name,” Mattesich says.
Having to come into class and make eye contact with a professor that you just recalled in a negative manner could create an awkward environment. Tools with built-in anonymity offer students a safe space to express their concerns without the fear of consequences.
“I have a very guilty conscience so I’m kind of bad when it comes to [that]…” Palaia says. “Thanks to the anonymity of [SEOIs] I’ve been able to give more constructive criticism. I’ve been a lot better with that and give them [professors] much better feedback; stuff that they can actually work with and apply, not just trying to be nice.”
Anonymous formats don’t guarantee negative feedback, but they can provide it a bigger platform. “I feel like most of the time probably I think people just kind of do negative, just because… they want to really warn other people,” Soto says. “I think it's probably rare that our professors are so good that you'd want to go out of your way to make it a positive. I don't think it's a good thing, but it's just how it tends to go.”
While reviews published on RateMyProfessor aren’t obligatory for professors to view, they are free and available to them, and the rest of the public.
Mary Eberhardinger, a professor in the communication department at CWU, expresses her thoughts on the topic. “It can be a form of character assassination,” she says. “Comments get published online, whether accurate or not. Whether someone was having a bad day or not. Whether someone was properly nourished or not. Whether someone took their medications that day or not.”
Eberhardinger feels that improper use of anonymous rating systems can be “de-facing and dehumanizing.”
To rate or not to rate?
On the RateMyProfessor website, students have the option to create an account to submit their own anonymous reviews.
Mattesich explains one of his own reviews. “There was a class I took that… I felt like it was false advertising, and the professor was not the best,” he says. “I've done multiple [ratings]. I do it for really good teachers too, like if I think more people should take their class.”
Ratings left by students on RateMyProfessor or through SEOIs are entirely optional, so what might encourage one to leave a review?
“I was heavily encouraged by all of my professors to do that [SEOI] because they thought it would be better for them to know what they did right [and] what they did wrong so they could make a better experience for the next quarter or whatever their next class was gonna be,” Palaia says. “So I've done that for every class I've taken this year, every quarter.”
The truth is tricky
Anonymous reviews left on platforms such as RateMyProfessor can offer valuable feedback, but the validity of the critique isn't guaranteed. So, how do you know what to trust?
“I would say, take it with a grain of salt,” Mattesich says. “Especially if you're not 100% sure. If it [the professor in question] still sounds interesting [the] add/drop period is helpful. So if you're concerned, just be ready to drop the class, but I mean, at least meet them, you know, talk to them.”
Forming your own opinions from your own experiences is an important part of growing. CWU offers an add/drop period for students during the first week of classes, which can be helpful in forming an educated opinion.
“I've had professors that will get low scores for their workload or so, and then I'll take that professor anyways, and they're good…” Soto says. “The workload might be a lot, but they're good professors.”
The criteria behind other students' ratings may be different from your own. When utilizing RateMyProfessor keep your educational wants and needs in mind.
“I think it just depends on how harsh they sound in the reviews or if they give them like a one-star review,” Soto says. “I'll try to read it and see… if you're nitpicking at small things.”
Academia-based rating systems have their own faults, some of which lie in societal stigmas. Human beings have biases. It is a part of our nature. However, they have the power to permeate into our everyday lives and impact those we are granted the power to review anonymously.
“[C]ountless studies show the SEIO/survey gender bias against female instructors in the pedagogical space,” Eberhardinger says. “The studies point to how women are held as less credible as male instructors, even though, in cases, they may be triple-qualified versus a male's single qualification in a particular area of expertise.”
These reviewer biases can range, some may be based on gender like Ederhardinger explains, whereas others could be rooted elsewhere. When navigating an anonymous digital landscape, it is best to do so with caution and awareness of potential biases.
CWU at a glance
Not exclusively restricted to professors, RateMyProfessor allows users to rate aspects of universities themselves on a 1-5 scale, averaging ten categories into one final score. CWU scores a 3.7 on the website, with 361 ratings.
Further statistics include scores of 4.2 for safety, 4.1 for facilities, 3.9 for happiness, 3.6 for opportunities, 3.5 for social, 3.5 for reputation, 3.5 for location, 3.5 for clubs, 3.3 for food and 3.2 for internet.
Eastern Washington University: 3.6/5 overall out of 325 ratings (as of 5/8/24)
Safety: 4.1
Facilities: 4.0
Happiness: 3.8
Opportunities: 3.6
Social: 3.5
Reputation: 3.4
Location: 3.4
Clubs: 3.4
Food: 3.4
Internet: 3.1
Central Washington University: 3.7/5 overall out of 361 ratings (as of 5/8/24)
Safety: 4.2
Facilities: 4.1
Happiness: 3.9
Opportunities: 3.6
Social: 3.5
Reputation: 3.5
Location: 3.5
Clubs: 3.5
Food: 3.3
Internet: 3.2
Western Washington University: 3.7/5 overall out of 670 ratings (as of 5/8/24)
Safety: 4.4
Facilities: 4.1
Happiness: 4.1
Opportunities: 3.8
Social: 3.8
Reputation: 3.7
Location: 3.6
Clubs: 3.6
Food: 3.3
Internet: 3.0
University of Washington: 3.9/5 overall out of 728 ratings (as of 5/8/24)
Safety: 4.4
Facilities: 4.4
Happiness: 4.3
Opportunities: 4.1
Social: 4.1
Reputation: 3.9
Location: 3.8
Clubs: 3.5
Food: 3.3
Internet: 3.0
Washington State University: 4.1/5 overall out of 566 ratings (as of 5/8/24)
Safety: 4.4
Facilities: 4.3
Happiness: 4.2
Opportunities: 4.2
Social: 4.0
Reputation: 4.0
Location: 3.9
Clubs: 3.8
Food: 3.6
Internet: 3.5
