Academic Entitlement And Self-Esteem

Educational experiences have differed generationally. In this generation of current college students, academic entitlement and the self-esteem movement have both changed the education standards. While academic entitlement is typically expressed by narcissistic individuals, the self-esteem movement is geared towards gaining a high self-esteem. These two movements may seem contradictory, so where is the middle ground? According to the Canadian Journal of Education (2012), academic entitlement is defined as the “tendency to possess an expectation of academic success without taking personal responsibility for achieving that success.” In other words, some students believe that they are entitled to good grades in school without any work on their …show more content…
Louis Post-Dispatch (2010) gives an interesting take on the topic of academic entitlement. It uses the term “mutual non-aggression pact” to describe the relationship between students giving their professors positive course evaluations and professors giving higher grades and less work. This deal is a “consumerist approach to education.” A college education should arm students with the ability to think critically and instill in them a passion for learning, not be a business deal. Professors should want students to achieve critical thinking and a passion for further education, not lazily handing out high grades to unmotivated students. If students learn that they can put in zero effort while still earning a diploma, it will further affect them as they get out of college into the …show more content…
Exploitive entitlement is characterized by “exploitive interactions and expectations of special treatment.” Non-exploitive entitlement is characterized by “entitled beliefs that rest on the notions of self-worth and fairness.” Interestingly, exploitive entitlement was shown to be related to higher levels of neuroticism and psychopathy. It was also related to lower self-esteem and lower levels of social commitment. Non-exploitive entitlement was associated with a higher self-esteem. While no amount of entitlement is necessarily seen as humble, non-exploitive entitlement seems to be a healthier option for