Cognitive Repairs in the Admissions Office: New Strategies for Improving Equity and Excellence at Selective Colleges

• In Event: AERA Early Career Award (2013) Lecture: Michael Bastedo

Abstract

There are two paradoxes in selective college admissions: (a) Why do admissions officers claim that SATs are only one part of the decision, when research shows repeatedly that they are largely determinative? (b) Why do admissions officers claim to review applications in light of school and family context, when research shows that racial and socioeconomic stratification have failed to improve? I argue that these paradoxes result from cognitive biases and heuristics among admissions officers that create failures to improve access and equity even when there is the will to do so. Using fieldwork data from two flagship university admissions offices, I examine these cognitive biases, and the strengths and weaknesses of various "cognitive repairs” to address the problem. I conclude with an agenda for admissions reform based on this work.

Author

• Michael Bastedo, University of Michigan