Rethinking the Admissions Interview: Piloting Multiple Mini-Interviews in a Graduate Psychology Program

Clark, Jennifer; Miller, Catherine; Garwood, Erin L.

doi:10.1177/0033294119896062

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(64 reference statements)

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“…Some organizations have implemented strategies to hide applicant characteristics prior to interview selection to alleviate bias (e.g., racial bias; Government of Canada, 2018). To help improve the reliability and validity of interviews, programmes can standardize their interviews, use more than two raters, use diverse raters, calculate interrater reliabilities, and use these for discussion to improve decision-making (e.g., Clark et al, 2020; Kazmi et al, 2021). Additionally, these methods will need to be conducted from a standpoint of reducing racial bias in interview questions, such as the interviewer’s examination of their individual identity and how that could distort perceptions and lead to biases during the interview (Council of Chairs of Training Councils, 2020).…”

Section: Discussion: Potential Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing the representation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour as students in psychology doctoral programmes.

Sarr¹,

Knight²,

Strauss³

et al. 2022

Canadian Psychology / Psychologie canadienne

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There have been persistent calls for increased representation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) in all aspects of the psychology workforce. For equity to occur in the profession and delivery of services, there must be equity in access to graduate-level training in psychology. In this article, we discuss systemic racial inequity in access to Canadian psychology graduate programmes. We reviewed literature to investigate admissions evaluation criteria for racial bias using the University of Ottawa, School of Psychology's publicly available ranking grid as an example. This scoring grid provides a transparent evaluation process that includes elements common to many Canadian programmes. We reviewed literature relevant to predictive validity and racial bias in the grid elements. Our review was guided by two questions: (a) What evidence is there that ranking grid items and other commonly used admissions criteria predict psychology graduate student success? (b) Do the criteria maintain systemic racial bias in the selection of graduate students? We found that all items on the admissions ranking grid were biased, suggesting that racial bias in admissions criteria maintains systemic racism against BIPOC applicants. We propose both concrete and policy/advocacy recommendations to improve access to psychology graduate education for BIPOC groups; these recommendations may benefit other underrepresented groups as well. Public Significance StatementBIPOC are disproportionately underrepresented in Canadian graduate psychology programmes, resulting in few BIPOC working in psychology professions in Canada. This lack of representation has devastating impacts on the profession of psychology as a whole (e.g., lack of diverse thought), and importantly, the health of racialized communities (e.g., lack of culturally appropriate practices and services). The recommendations provided herein can inform changes in policy and procedures to promote racial equity, diversity, and inclusion in the field of psychology.

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Section: Discussion: Potential Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing the representation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour as students in psychology doctoral programmes.

Sarr¹,

Knight²,

Strauss³

et al. 2022

Canadian Psychology / Psychologie canadienne

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“…In Australia as well as internationally, entry into a professional training program in psychology leading to registration is an extremely competitive process with considerably more applicants each year than places. Therefore, significant responsibility is conferred on program staff to select the best candidates for training to become a psychologist (Clark, Miller and Garwood, 2019). As a duty of care to the profession and the public, those selected must be deemed suited to enter the profession.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These differences may relate to the nature of the program being applied for and the information available to applicants before the interview. The impact of applicant diversity factors on MMI performance has also been examined (Clark, Miller and Garwood, 2019;Reiter and Eva, 2018). In their review, Reiter and Eva (2018) found variability in correlational findings across factors such as age, gender, cultural background, socioeconomic status, and rurality attributed to variations in MMI construction, content, and format, as well as differences in applicant pools and institutions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Employing Multiple Mini Interviews in Selection Processes for Psychology Professional Training Programs: Ten Tips for Effective Implementation

Oxlad¹,

Roberts²,

Chur‐Hansen³

et al. 2020

MedEdPublish

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In Australia and internationally, entry into many professional psychology training programs is highly competitive, and as a duty of care to the public, training institutions must seek to offer places to those best-suited to training to become a psychologist. Typically, part of this selection process involves an interview. While panel interviews have been widely utilised, recently, in a range of health disciplines, these have been substituted for multiple mini interviews (MMIs) with evidence for their acceptability, validity and reliability. There is limited research on the use of MMIs in psychology professional training selection processes. We have used this approach for three years to select approximately 100 trainees for Clinical, Health and Organisational and Human Factors postgraduate psychology training programs. Based on our experience and feedback from applicants, we provide information that suggests this selection method is well-received by applicants. We also provide ten tips on how to effectively implement this approach to determine those most suitable for further training.

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“…For instance, Strunk and Bailey (2015) reported from their empirical research that one-word changes (wife, partner, or husband in referring to one’s “significant other”) in the admission essay for graduate school changed the perception of the applicant. Clark and colleagues (2020) described a multiple mini-interview process that their graduate program implemented as part of the recruitment and selection process, and as they collected data about the efficacy of the multiple mini-interview process while using it, found strengths and weaknesses to the approach.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Graduate Admissions in Psychology: Using Quantitative and Qualitative Measures to Understand the Frequency and Fatality of Applicant Errors

Landrum

Alvarez

Jones

et al. 2022

Teaching of Psychology

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Background Graduate admissions in psychology continue to be a popular and competitive venture, with the demand for new graduate student opportunities exceeding the annual supply. Objective Our present work was a partial replication and extension of Appleby and Appleby (2006). We added closed- and open-ended questions regarding social media to gauge how graduate admissions committees utilize social media to evaluate applicants. Method We asked U.S. graduate admissions directors to answer six open-ended questions and then rate the frequency and fatality/harmfulness of 17 potential applicant errors. From the population of 467 graduate admissions directors, 56 provided complete responses (12.0% response rate). Results We examine the closed-ended quantitative results presenting descriptive data and combining the frequency and fatality scales into a scatterplot; outcomes from the open-ended qualitative results provide rich and nuanced advice about graduate admissions errors. Conclusion Poorly written application materials are to be avoided (obviously), but the evidence-informed advice offered here is much more nuanced and complex. Teaching Implications Mentors and faculty advisors can use information from this study to provide data-informed advice to students interested in improving their chances for admission to graduate programs in psychology, offering specific tips on the most harmful/fatal mistakes to avoid.

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Rethinking the Admissions Interview: Piloting Multiple Mini-Interviews in a Graduate Psychology Program

Cited by 5 publications

References 30 publications

Increasing the representation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour as students in psychology doctoral programmes.

Increasing the representation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour as students in psychology doctoral programmes.

Employing Multiple Mini Interviews in Selection Processes for Psychology Professional Training Programs: Ten Tips for Effective Implementation

Graduate Admissions in Psychology: Using Quantitative and Qualitative Measures to Understand the Frequency and Fatality of Applicant Errors

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