META-ANALYZING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GRADES AND JOB-PERFORMANCE

Employers and academics have differing views on the value of grades fo r predicting job performance. Employers often believe grades are usefu l predictors, and they make hiring decisions that are based on them. M any academics believe that grades have little predictive validity Past meta-analyses of the grades-performance relationship have suffered ei ther from small sample sizes or the inability to correct observed corr elations for research artifacts. This study demonstrated the observed correlation between grades and job performance was .16. Correction for research artifacts increased the correlation to the .30s. Several fac tors were found to moderate the relationship. The most powerful factor s were the year of research publication and the time between graduatio n and performance measurement.