Africa-Press – Eritrea. There is a connection that automatically builds up in an interaction between students and their lecturers.
This is similar to the connection between a manager and the team members of a department.
Anything that is regarded as attractive arouses interest in an individual which is based on what is mostly perceived as good or positive.
In a bid to find out how factual the assertion could be, this writer stepped out for an interview with some students from various universities to get their perspectives.
“I think it’s the nature of humanity in a psychological aspect. Attraction is one of the factors that persuade us to do certain things. This is where the saying dress how you want to be addressed comes in,” Julie (not her real name) said.
She added that if a student is active in class, the lecturer will be drawn to their papers when it comes to marking which might result in better marks since it resonates with the lecturer who will pin the work to a face.
James (not his real name), said that he defines the notion as the “pretty person privilege”.
“Everyone loves admirable people whether physically or mentally. We are visual creatures and are stimulated by people who look good and who we engage with,” he added.
Nancy Kamau, a fourth-year student from Kenyatta University disagrees with this notion.
“I have experienced situations where students who are perceived as physically appealing, do not necessarily acquire good grades due to that aspect, it is more about their intelligence and knowledge in the subject,” she said.
Sammy Kitula, a lecturer at Daystar University, said that according to him, there is no coordination between being pretty and acquiring good grades.
“However, I have heard stories of beautiful students attaining good grades because of their looks but for me, a student who is a C grade material cannot earn an A merely based on their physical appearance,” he said.
Kitula said that this stems from early learning intuitions such as high school and primary where beautiful girls are favoured by their teachers.
In spite of this, Kitula said that the level of attractiveness varies with different lecturers, it could be physical, intellectual or other factors.
“The physical attraction to me is null and void, however, what I find attractive is students who stand out by being active in class, are hard-working and fully contribute.”
“This aspect will make me notice them and is d contributing factor to the grades they will get,” Kitula added.
Psychologist Liz Gichemu said that it is a human tendency to want to associate good looks with outcomes.
She agrees that there is an association between beauty and positive outcomes.
“Confirmation bias is how we have been conditioned to think since childhood, for instance, light-skinned people are assumed to be more intelligent, have money or look more attractive,” she stated.
The expert also said that children with lighter skin complexion are given a lot of attention compared to dark skin babies as well as it is perceived that people from certain places/races are more eloquent.
She stated that ideally, certain features are associated with being good which is unconsciously ingrained in our behaviour.
This refers to what affects our behaviours being influenced and operating from our memories.
Gichemu said that lecturers are human beings too; students considered as hard-working, always punctual, challenge the lecturer, and confident in themselves naturally stand out and influence positive emotions however, it is not guaranteed at all times.
She stated that power dynamics also play out in this case. For example, respectful students tend to determine how their lecturers will react to them.
“It works vice versa, students tend to warm up to more receptive and warm lecturers as opposed to strict lecturers who will strike up negative emotions that will affect performance,” Gichemu said.
She added that there should be clarity and balance on what the engagement is all about.
A study by the Elsevier Academic Company claims that the academic performance of female students is relatively proportional to their physical appearance.
It further suggests that the grades of attractive students are way better during in-person learning compared to when learning is done virtually.
Elsivier explained that in virtual classes interaction is minimal and the lecturer cannot see the faces and reactions of the students.
“When instruction moved online during the coronavirus pandemic, the grades of attractive female students deteriorated in non-quantitative subjects. However, the beauty premium persisted for males, suggesting that discrimination is a salient factor in explaining the grade beauty premium for females only,” the study said.
Mathematics and Physics courses are classified as quantitative since they mostly rely on final written exams.
On the other hand, non-quantitative courses have a higher share of group assignments, seminars and oral presentations which demand more interaction with lecturers.
“The female beauty premium that is observed when education is physical is a consequence of discrimination,” the study implied.
On the contrary, it was found that there was still a significant beauty premium even after the introduction of online classes for male students.
“Beauty can be a productivity-enhancing attribute for male students,” Elsevier added.
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