Grade nondisclosure (GND) policies, which date back to the 1990s, exist predominantly within an elite group of MBA programs including Wharton, Stanford, and Columbia. They codify a (typically student-driven) collective agreement not to disclose grades to potential employers during the recruiting process, even if they are requested. Proponents of the practice argue that a GND policy promotes collaboration between students and allows them to pursue additional extracurricular experiences, and take harder classes without fear of the impact to their GPA. Critics of the policy say it deprives employers of a key metric for making hiring decisions and discourages students from spending time on academics.
The Wall Street Journal has previously published study findings examining the impact of a GND policy on student behavior, which shows that both proponents and critics are correct. The study’s authors—Eric Floyd, Assistant Professor of Accounting at the University of California San Diego, Daniel Lee, Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Delaware, and Sorabh Tomar, Assistant Professor of Accounting at Southern Methodist University—reviewed data from one MBA program to compare the choices of full-time students covered by a GND, with those of part-time students, who were not bound by the GND.
They found:
Students with a GND spent about 4.9 percent less time per course, compared to students without a GND. However, GND students did generally enroll in harder classes, which meant that their total time spent on academics was not statistically different from their counterparts.
GND students were 7.6 percent more likely to engage in extracurricular activities than their counterparts.
GND students reported lower tenure at their first job post-graduation. They were 7.7 percent less likely to remain for more than a year and 12.8 percent less likely to stay longer than two years when compared to non-GND students.
While the study’s findings provide helpful insight into student behaviors, there is variation in the way the data could be interpreted. “Between the extracurriculars and the difficult classes, what we say isn’t all time spent away from academics is lost time,” said Dr. Lee. “But we can’t really comment on the good or bad effects.” Similarly, Dr. Tomar told the WSJ that the explanation for the reduced employment tenure could be attributed to either the negative effects that grade nondisclosure had on job matching between students and employers or the positive effects that additional time spent on extracurricular activities had on GND students’ networks, thereby increasing their likelihood of obtaining additional job opportunities and offers.