We Have Some Work to Do: SEL in Admissions

• In Event: Assessing Competencies for Social and Emotional Learning: Conceptualization, Development, and Applications

Abstract

A great deal of evidence indicates that aspects of socio and emotional learning (SEL) are associated with a wide range of important educational, occupational, and life outcomes. These outcomes range from earning good grades in school (Crede & Kuncel, 2008; Poropat, 2009), performing well on the job (Barrick et al., 2001; Chiaburu et al., 2011; Judge et al., 2002), and even factors like occupational attainment (Roberts et al., 2007). Similarly, these characteristics are associated with avoiding academic dishonesty (Lee et al., 2020) and other counterproductive academic behaviors (Cuadrado et al., 2021), as well broader life outcomes (Roberts et al., 2007). Historically, academic preparedness has been the main focus of student admissions, with the use of grades and test scores as strong indicators. Although academic preparedness should remain an important part of admissions, the current trend is an attempt to rebalance the relative weight these indicators are given.

Unfortunately, the tools typically employed for incorporating SEL into the admissions process have not been professionally developed and suffer from operational limitations. Measures commonly used to assess prospective students’ SEL include letters of recommendation, interviews, reports of prior accomplishments, personal statements and student essays (see Kuncel, Tran, & Zhang, 2020). Research on the effectiveness of these tools lags far behind what is known about grades and test scores. Unfortunately, what evidence we do have is mostly negative, indicating that the traditional SEL assessments have modest to low predictive power and are prone to biases. Fortunately, some strategies for upgrading letters, accomplishments, and interviews are available. Additionally, newer methods like situational judgement tests have also been successfully implemented for decision making. Our purpose here will be to present the basic evidence surrounding the use of SEL assessments, discuss current best practices, identify research priorities and provide an overview of new assessment alternatives.

Authors

• Nathan Kuncel, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Phoebe Hessen, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Samuel Lee, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities