A Model for Holistic Review in Graduate Admissions That Decouples the GRE from Race, Ethnicity, and Gender

Abstract

Graduate schools around the United States are working to improve access to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in a manner that reflects local and national demographics. The admissions process has been the focus of examination, as it is a potential bottleneck for entry into STEM. Standardized tests are widely used as part of the decision-making process; thus, we examined the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) in two models of applicant review: metrics-based applicant review and holistic applicant review to understand whether it affected applicant demographics at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. We measured the relationship between GRE scores of doctoral applicants and admissions committee scores. Metrics-based review of applicants excluded twice the number of applicants who identified as a historically underrepresented minority compared with their peers. Efforts to implement holistic applicant review resulted in an unexpected result: the GRE could be used as a tool in a manner that did not reflect its reported bias. Applicant assessments in our holistic review process were independent of gender, racial, and citizenship status. Importantly, our recommendations provide a blueprint for institutions that want to implement a data-driven approach to assess applicants in a manner that uses the GRE as part of the review process.

Maintaining Core Values in Postgraduate Programs During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Many graduate programs have already removed the GRE requirement or are considering making it optional, and the pandemic may accelerate this trend. [9][10][11][12] The long-term implications of dropping the GRE requirement will need to be assessed to determine whether this metric measures important qualities and if the GRE predict graduate student outcomes.…”

Physics GRE Requirements Create Uneven Playing Field for Graduate Applicants

“…Studies have shown the problematic use of Physics GRE scores due to a performance bias against women and underrepresented minorities [6][7][8]. At the same time, incorporating holistic review for STEM graduate admissions allows for such quantitative measures to still be utilized, while reducing risk of racial/ethnic and gender bias by having GRE scores (general and subject-test) as just one element within a broad holistic graduate application [9,10]. However, much of the literature on the use of Physics GREs in graduate admissions has been focused exclusively on the faculty and programmatic side of this equation with student voices remaining largely absent.…”

Speech-Language Pathology Graduate Admissions: Implications to Diversify the Workforce

“…The GRE ranked as important or most important during screenings by 33% of the programs. We suggest that is problematic because using the GRE for metrics-based review of applicants has been found to exclude twice the number of applicants who identify as a historically URM compared with their peers (Wilson et al, 2019). However, holistic admission strategies mitigate this exclusion.…”