A college student has compared the way her history professor’s “tone” changed when grading her assignments after she informed him that she is a woman.
Devon, who goes by the username @friedpicklegirl28 on TikTok, shared a video comparing the change in responses to the work she’s submitted for class on Thursday. She began the clip by showing screenshots of the responses she received from her history professor when he assumed she was a man, in which the professor had informed her her answers were satisfactory and given her As.
“Valid contribution and comment, Mr DeCurtis,” the first screenshot, which shows that the TikToker received a grade of 93 out of 100, reads. “The C’s are questions historians ask to analyse a source.”
In a second screenshot, which still showed the TikToker identified as Mr DeCurtis, Devon received a comment from her professor informing her that she had submitted a “sufficient contribution and comment,” and had received a 92 out of 100.
“Good work, Mr DeCurtis, the post is well-written and meets all the requirements,” a third screenshot reads, showing that Devon received a 94 out of 100.
In a text caption, the TikToker wrote: “History professor’s comments when they thought I was a guy.”
The video then transitioned into screenshots of the responses Devon said she received after she had informed her professor that she was a woman, in which the professor could be seen giving her B grades for the work she’d submitted.
“Once I correct him lol,” Devon wrote in a caption on the video, with the first screenshot showing that she received an 85 out of 100 and a lengthy explanation about the reasons why her answer was “incorrect,” with her professor addressing her as “Ms DeCurtis”.
In another screenshot, Devon also received a paragraph from her professor about the mistakes in her assignment, with the grade showing that she again received an 85 out of 100. In addition to criticising the TikToker’s response, the screenshot also showed her professor instructing her to avoid using the “passive form”. “‘Jesus is seen.’ By whom?” the professor wrote.
In the caption, Devon wrote: “Should’ve kept my damn mouth shut.”
The video, which has been viewed more than 1.3m times, has prompted an outpouring of comments upset on Devon’s behalf, with many agreeing with the college student that her professor’s tone changed.
“The expectations for male students and expectations for female students are clearly not on the same playing field,” one person commented, while another said: “Regardless of if those answers were really wrong or not, there’s a clear change in the way he speaks to you.”
Someone else said the video showed Devon’s professor going “from ‘yes this is sufficient enough of an answer sir’ to ‘ma’am here’s all the ways you’re wrong,’” while one person claimed “there’s no academic expectation for guys”.
“That’s so nice that they implemented the wage gap into the curriculum,” another person sarcastically added.
In the comments, Devon clarified that she’s “not saying I’m a victim,” nor is she “saying it is unjust grading”. “I am just showing the difference in tone. Thanks,” she said.
The Independent has contacted Devon for comment.
