APPENDIX
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Reasoning: Dimensions related to socio-emotional skills demonstrate negligible differences when evaluated across genders, ethnicities, and socio- economic status vi o Socio-emotional skills highly correlated with graduate school success: 1 Conscientiousness, or “personal willingness to perform .” vii Plan commitment and goal commitment viii Curiosity, flexibility, independence, and problem-solving ix 3 Provide standards, guidance and training to the admissions committee x Reasoning: Many schools employ a “holistic review process,” but that means different things for different schools. Without training, committee members may be more prone to bring personal biases into their admissions decision-making. xi Training is also important from a legal perspective to demonstrate all applications were evaluated fairly, in the case a denied student ever contests. xii o Training: Third-party training for committee members may help them broach difficult subjects like race and gender biases, or implicit biases. Virtual, live-hosted workshops are offered by Equity in Graduate Education. o Scoring rubrics: A detailed rubric helps committee members to reliably score each portfolio using a 5- point scale on field relevant experience, degree expectations, general experience, graduate level writing, and analytical/conceptual ability. xiii a. Provide a structure for recommenders (speaking to student’s drive, motivation, persistence, etc.), or even abandon letters and move a survey format such as the Personal Potential Index (ETS). xiv 4 Require a diversity essay in addition to a personal statement, and provide the applicant some structure/guidance .
SUMMARIZED BEST PRACTICES FOR EQUITY IN GRADUATE ADMISSIONS by Kelly Wadsworth Graduate Program Manager Institute for Politics and Strategy Carnegie Mellon University August 2020 INTRODUCTION According to some key findings of a Council of Graduate Schools r eport on graduate admissions, “ It is more important than ever for graduate schools to articulate their diversity objectives and tie them to the missions of their institutions. Doing so will make it easier for graduate schools to build a compelling case on campus for the need to review fairness and reliability of admissions practices .” i Below is a summarized list of best practices to increase equity in the admissions process based on a review of influential literature around this problem.
5 BEST PRACTICES
1 Remove GRE requirement and state criteria of 3.0 GPA for at least half of undergraduate work (preferably total ) ii Reasoning: Undergraduate GPA is a more consistent predictor of Graduate GPA and program standing than GRE scores iii a. Weigh quantitative admissions information differently for groups that, on average, score lower on the more quantitative admissions criteria iv 2 Evaluate qualitative indicators of success as equally as quantitative v
1 Despite their importance, methods to capture these skills in the application process are rarely standardized; which is why best practices 3&4 are equally as important
1
DIETRICH COLLEGE DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION PLAN
59
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online