Journal article
Improving Admission of Low-SES Students at Selective Colleges: Results From an Experimental Simulation
Educational researcher, Vol.46(2), pp.67-77
03/01/2017
DOI: 10.3102/0013189X17699373
Abstract
Low-socioeconomic status (SES) students are underrepresented at selective colleges, but the role that admissions offices play is poorly understood. Because admissions offices often have inconsistent information on high school contexts, we conducted a randomized controlled trial to determine whether providing detailed information on high school contexts increases the likelihood that admissions officers (n = 311) would recommend admitting low-SES applicants. Admissions officers in the detailed-information condition were 13 to 14 percentage points (i. e., 26%-28%) more likely to recommend admitting a low-SES applicant from an underserved high school than those in the limited-information condition, although the limited-information condition provided significant details about family SES and high school context. These findings were consistent regardless of the selectivity of the college, admissions office practices, and participant demographics.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Improving Admission of Low-SES Students at Selective Colleges: Results From an Experimental Simulation
- Creators
- Michael N. Bastedo - University of Michigan–Ann ArborNicholas A. Bowman - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Educational researcher, Vol.46(2), pp.67-77
- Publisher
- Sage
- DOI
- 10.3102/0013189X17699373
- ISSN
- 0013-189X
- eISSN
- 1935-102X
- Number of pages
- 11
- Grant note
- F033963 / National Science Foundation, Research on Engineering Education; National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 03/01/2017
- Academic Unit
- Educational Policy and Leadership Studies; Public Policy Center (Archive); Center for Social Science Innovation
- Record Identifier
- 9984283716902771
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