James is an Adjunct Fellow at The New Zealand Initiative. His focus is on higher education policy, including academic freedom.
James holds a BA in Classics from Oxford, an MA in Ancient History from the University of London, an MA in Political Science from Stanford and a PhD in Classics from Stanford.
He is also the co-host, along with Michael Johnston, of Free Kiwis!, a podcast dedicated to discussing free speech in a New Zealand context. He can be found on Twitter at @Kleisthenes2.
Phone: 04 499 0790
Academic freedom has become a major concern at universities across the English-speaking world in recent years. Speakers have been disinvited, papers retracted, and academics disciplined or even dismissed for things they have said or positions they have taken. Read more
In this episode, Michael talks with Dr James Kierstead about the pressures on academics to align with universities’ institutional priorities, including expectations to incorporate Māori and Pasifika perspectives in all teaching programmes. The discussion raises questions about academic freedom, institutional neutrality, and accountability, illustrated by the circumstances surrounding Dr Kierstead’s redundancy from Victoria University of Wellington. Read more
If you enjoyed Fifty Shades of Grey (either the book or the movie), there’s no guarantee that you will enjoy Fifty Shades of Grades, the research note on grade distribution at New Zealand universities that I released earlier this week. Still, I like to think that the latter has enough titillating detail, spanking new analysis, and breath-taking climaxes (if only of series of data) to satisfy most readers. Read more
In this episode, Oliver talks to James Kierstead and Damien Grant about James's departure from New Zealand after 12 years, reflecting on his journey from academia to policy research and his observations of New Zealand's cultural and political shifts since 2013. They discuss the challenges facing New Zealand universities, including grade inflation and administrative bloat, alongside broader themes of democracy, academic freedom, and the tension between New Zealand's liberal traditions and parochial tendencies. Read more
Wellington (Tuesday, 25 November 2025) - A grades are now only a few years away from becoming the most common grade awarded at New Zealand universities, according to new analysis released today by The New Zealand Initiative. The research note, ‘Fifty Shades of Grades: Grade Compression at New Zealand Universities’, builds on the Initiative's August report, ‘Amazing Grades’, which identified a substantial rise in A grades as well as rising pass rates. Read more
A grades are now only a few years away from becoming the most common grade awarded at New Zealand universities. The research note, ‘Fifty Shades of Grades: Grade Compression at New Zealand Universities’, builds on the Initiative's August report, ‘Amazing Grades’, which identified a substantial rise in A grades as well as rising pass rates. Read more
Dr James Kierstead discussed grade inflation at New Zealand universities on Newstalk ZB. He explained that A grades have increased from 22% to 36% of all grades since 2006, while B and C grades have fallen, with the Initiative's analysis finding no evidence students are getting smarter—suggesting academics have incentives to award higher grades. Read more
Dr James Kierstead talked to Heather du Plessis-Allan on Newstalk ZB about the Initiative's new research showing A grades at New Zealand universities have surged 64% since 2006 and now make up nearly 40% of all grades. Dr Kierstead explained that academics face pressure to inflate grades to maintain student numbers and positive feedback, undermining universities' credibility as reliable signals to employers and requiring potential government intervention to address the systemic issue. Read more
Dr James Kierstead talked to Ingrid Hipkiss on RNZ's Morning Report about his research showing A grades are becoming the most common at New Zealand universities, rising from 35% to nearly 50% at some institutions. Dr Kierstead explained that grade inflation is driven by academics' incentives around student numbers and feedback, arguing it dilutes the value of top grades and undermines motivation for hard work. Read more
Now that we’re getting towards the end of the year, and I’m getting towards the end of my time as a contributor to this newsletter, I’ve been thinking about the news story that most stood out for me this year and that best encapsulates my experience of this country. The obvious answer is the story of Ned the snail. Read more
Dr James Kierstead talked to Damien Grant on Different Matters about The New Zealand Initiative's research showing substantial grade inflation at New Zealand universities, with A grades rising from roughly 15% to over 30% of all grades awarded, peaking at nearly 50% during COVID at some institutions. Dr Kierstead explained how this grade inflation undermines the signalling value of university qualifications for employers and represents a "tragedy of the commons" where individual academics inflate grades to boost student numbers, ultimately damaging the credibility of the entire tertiary education system. Read more
Rugby, as readers of this newsletter will know, is a game played by men with funny-shaped balls. But as well as being a lot of fun to play and to watch, it turns out that the game has other uses. Read more
Sometime in the first half of 2019, Ji Ruan, a senior lecturer in computer science at Auckland University of Technology, organised an event to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. He no doubt assumed that, in a free country like New Zealand, this would be no problem. Read more
In this episode, James talks to Craig Mellare and Abdul Razeed, senior lecturers at the University of Sydney Business School, about their empirical study on grade inflation in Australian higher education. They discuss findings showing that grades have risen significantly over the past decade despite no improvement in student ability, and explore the institutional pressures driving this phenomenon including student evaluation systems, time constraints on academic staff, and the need to manage student appeals and expectations. Read more
In this episode, James Kierstead talks with Sarah McLaughlin, Senior Scholar, Global Expression at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), about her forthcoming book Authoritarians in the Academy. They explore how authoritarian governments, particularly China, pressure universities abroad through funding ties, partnerships, and intimidation of students and scholars. Read more