Exams and essay writing should be ditched because they unfairly favour white students, according to a report from an elite university.
Birmingham University says the traditional methods of assessment are measures of ‘smartness based on white privilege’, adding that it is harder for students from ethnic minorities to do well.
The university – part of the prestigious Russell Group of universities – made the astonishing claim in a new paper about how to ‘decolonise’ its business school.
It decreed business degrees must change their systems and structures to cut links with ‘colonialism and its legacies’.
And in a commentary released with the report, Prof Sally Everett, from another renowned university – King’s College London – waxed lyrical about the ‘unearned advantages of being white’ and ‘the privileges of whiteness’ and advocated ‘decolonising assessment’.
She claimed that traditional assessment methods ‘perpetuate systemic inequalities’ and suggested ‘low-stakes assessments’ such as ‘writing reflective journals’ should replace them.
The report concluded that assessment practices, such as in-person, timed exams or graded essays, should go because they are potentially ‘tools of exclusion’.
It said these ‘marginalise knowledge’ and devalue skills from ‘non-Western traditions’.
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Birmingham University (pictured) says the traditional methods of assessment are measures of ‘smartness based on white privilege’, adding that it is harder for students from ethnic minorities to do well
It is all part of an equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) drive launched by the university’s business department in response to the Black Lives Matter protests.
But Chris McGovern, of the Campaign for Real Education, said he was ‘saddened to see academic integrity being brought into disrepute in this way’.
‘Traditional forms of written assessment discriminate on the basis of intelligence, not on the basis of race,’ he insisted.
‘Students from the global south are being patronised, infantilised and demeaned by treating them as intellectually inferior and incapable. We need a decolonisation of the woke, empire not a dismantling of the foundation stones of the Western world,’ he said.
The report, called ‘Decolonising a business school in context: from theory to practice’, is part of a three-year project.
Other activities have included taking business students to an art gallery to hear race theory interpretations of paintings and sculptures. The report noted: ‘This work may be uncomfortable, but it is hopeful.’
The action by Birmingham is part of a bigger push to get rid of exams across higher education because they are deemed to be biased against certain groups.
Universities are also under pressure to close the gap in the proportion of firsts and 2:1s given to white students compared with peers from ethnic minority backgrounds.
It is not clear how many academics have implemented the report’s recommendations so far.
A University of Birmingham spokesman defended the project as ‘a product of academically rigorous research and discussions with academics within and outside of Birmingham Business School’.
‘This report from colleagues in the business school suggests a range of actions that may help students understand and explore those different perspectives.’
‘Birmingham Business School is a global business school educating students who come from all over the world. Understanding the world from multiple perspectives is a critical skill that we teach our future business leaders.’
