Challenging Notions of Academic Entitlement and Its Rise among Liberal Arts College Students

Abstract

To assess academic entitlement, we employed a repeated cross-sectional design to compare survey data from two systematic random samples collected eight years apart, in 2009 (n = 225) and 2017 (n = 159), at a small, private, mid-Atlantic liberal arts college. According to an entitlement scale (based on Greenberger et al., 2008), students were less likely to be entitled in 2017 (27%) than in 2009 (41%) (p = 0.02). In 2009, a higher proportion of males than females felt entitled (50% versus 34%, p = 0.05), a sex difference that disappeared by 2017. To explore academic entitlement further, we developed the “PIE” scale to measure the extent to which students believe “participation,” “improvement” and “effort” should help determine their course grades. Although the proportion of above average PIE scorers was stable from 2009 (36%) to 2017 (34%), in 2017, more females than males were above average on PIE (26% of males versus 44% of females, p = 0.02). PIE, or the desire for recognition of “academic sweat equity,” could reflect students’ support for a learning model that goes beyond mastery and is more developmental and process oriented. These data challenge common conceptions of what constitutes academic entitlement, the belief that it is rising, and suggest continued discussions of what factors should determine grades.

Assessing the Relationship Between Nontraditional Factors and Academic Entitlement

“…The student is not a subject matter expert yet. Lemke et al (2017) theorize that AE may be more about recognizing a student’s “academic sweat” than entitlement. Students may be seeking ways to confirm they comprehend the material.…”

“…Individual difference variables and demographics have been increasingly studied to help understand AE formation. Men tend to exhibit higher levels of AE than women (Boswell, 2012; Chowning & Campbell, 2009; Ciani et al, 2008; Elias, 2017; Greenberger et al, 2008; Sohr-Preston & Boswell, 2015), though some researchers find no gender differences (Lemke et al, 2017). Boswell (2012) discusses how men are socialized to place greater value on success and accomplishment, which may lead to valuing extrinsic rewards such as grades over learning and self-development.…”

Dealing With Entitled Students

“…How common is it? While we may think the prevalence of AE is increasing, Lemke, Marx, and Dundes (2017) reported a decrease in academic entitlement between 2009 and 2017 (41% versus 27%). However, although more men scored high on AE in 2009 (50%) in comparison with women (34%), this difference was not present in 2017.…”

Do factual rehearsal, emotion reflection, or instructor acknowledgment increase academic performance and academic entitlement?

“…On the one hand, this shift may result in misperceptions of the instructor's authority and potentially promote entitled attitudes (Jiang et al, 2017; Zhu & Anagondahalli, 2017) leading researchers to explore strategies in the college classrooms to decrease academic entitlement (e.g., Zhu et al, 2019). On the other hand, even with the increased use of reflection experiences, emerging research suggests that entitlement is lower in the current generation of college students compared to some previous generations (Keener, 2020; Lemke et al, 2017). Given the lack of clarity, it seems worthwhile to clearly examine the potential causal role of reflection experiences on entitlement.…”