Metrics First, Diversity Later? Making the Short List and Getting Admitted to Physics Ph.D. Programs

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 25
  In Roundtable Session: What Diversity Means in STEM Programs

Abstract

Recent research suggests faculty reliance on GRE scores early in graduate admissions review disproportionately limits access to doctoral education for women, Black, Latino, and Native American students, but that faculty do weigh diversity when evaluating applicants on a shortlist. This paper tests the evidence for this two stage review process through logistic regressions using application-level data from six large, selective physics programs. We examine whether the factors that predict an applicant’s selection to a shortlist differ from the factors associated with admission. Our findings add weight to a rising tide of evidence that faculty must revisit the narrow framing with which they have traditionally approached initial file review.

Authors

• Julie Renee Posselt, University of Southern California

• Theresa E Hernandez, University of Southern California

• Geraldine L. Cochran, Rochester Institute of Technology

• Casey W Miller, Rochester Institute of Technology