Samples of minority (black) and nonminority, newly hired telephone company service representatives participated in a test validation study. Tests administered during employment were related to specially developed proficiency criteria. Generally, individual and composite test and criterion averages obtained by the ethnic samples differed significantly, but validity coefficients were comparable. Regression equation comparisons indicated that common test standards could be used to evaluate minority and nonminority job applicants.
Ten pencil-and-paper tests were validated against telephone operator proficiency measured in specially developed job simulations. Job analysis information plus patterns of validity coefficients for a nationwide sample (N -1,091) working in three different telephone operator jobs indicated that a number of behavioral dimensions were common to all three jobs. Data, therefore, were combined across jobs and analyzed separately for black, Spanish-surnarned, and white operators. A composite of the four maximally predictive tests was significantly predictive of a composite criterion for all ethnic groups, but less so for the Spanish-surnamed. Ethnic regression-line slopes and intercepts differed significantly, The common regression equation generally did not underpredict minority operator proficiency, and a composite test cutoff, considered fair for minority and nonminority applicants is recommended.
Ten tests of intellectual ability and perceptual speed and accuracy were validated against specially developed clerical work samples with a newly hired sample of 143 blacks, 74 Spanish-sumamed, and 195 whites. Most validity coefficients were statistically significant, and in only 2 out of 36 comparisons were ethnic sample validity coefficients significantly different. A combination of four tests was significantly predictive of clerical proficiency for each ethnic sample and for the total combined sample. Comparisons of ethnic sample regression equations indicated that the slopes are essentially the same but that the intercepts differ significantly. The total sample regression equation does not undarpredict prospective proficiency levels for minority clerks, and a composite predictor found to be appropriate for minority and nonrninority applicants for clerical jobs was recommended for employment office use.
Even if the various predictions of "spoilsport" forecasters turn out to be true, it would seem that the most psychologically defensible course to follow would be that of advising the student of the facts as these are known by us today, but then after he is furnished the facts he should not be discouraged from majoring in any area that is congruent with his interests and talents, nor should he be admitted grudgingly into a program with the deflating caveat, "Don't say I didn't warn you." The choice is that of the individual.Finally, the experiences and hardships so many of our colleagues have endured in the last few years underscore, as nothing else can, the importance of having a broadly based graduate education capable of enabling the psychologist to shift gears more or less in tune with the vicissitudes of the economy and the ebbs and flows of national priorities.
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