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Cited by 4Higher Education Research StudiesCareer Development and DiversityMedical Education and Admissions

Exploring Diversity in Graduate and Professional School Applications

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Holtzman, Steven, Minott, Tamara, Devasia, Nimmi, Kirova, Dessi, Klieger, David·2021·ETS Research Report Series
DOI 10.1002/ets2.12330
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Abstract

Gathering a diverse student body is important for institutions of higher education (IHEs) at the graduate/professional level. However, it is impossible to select a diverse student body from a homogenous group of candidates. Thus the aim of this study is to discover the extent to which diversity goals in admissions are precluded by the lack of diversity in the applicant pool. To explore this, the proportion of score reports sent to the 150 largest graduate/professional schools and sent for each major was compared, from each gender, race, and socioeconomic status (SES) grouping, to proportions from the overall applicant pool of graduate/professional students. Additionally, differences in the distance graduate/professional school applicants are willing to consider traveling by gender, race/ethnicity, and SES were investigated. Results show that differences exist in the gender, race, and SES distributions for score reports sent to different schools and for different majors as well as in the distance an applicant is willing to consider traveling for graduate/professional school. The patterns found for gender, racial, and socioeconomic diversity provide possibilities for researchers to work further together with graduate/professional schools to tackle the important challenge of increasing diversity in graduate/professional education.

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  • These reductions are consistent with prior work highlighting differences in goals and perceived preparedness across subgroups.

    “consistent with prior work highlighting differences in goals and perceived preparedness across subgroups (Holtzman et al., 2021).”

    From An Omitted Variables Approach to Disentangling Differential Prediction in College Admissions (2026) · cites this paper as Holtzman et al., 2021

    The Diversity in Graduate School Applications section reports subgroup differences in degree aspirations, and the Discussion describes differences in applicants’ choice of major. Neither passage establishes differences in perceived preparedness; a search for preparedness and related terms found no such finding in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.83)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Holtzman, S., Minott, T., Devasia, N., Kirova, D., & Klieger, D.
Affiliations
  • Educational Testing Service (US)
  • New York University (US)
Corresponding author
Holtzman, Steven
ORCID
Venue
ETS Research Report Series
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2021-09-13
Volume
2021
Issue
1
Pages
1-19
ISSN
2330-8516 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1002/ets2.12330
OpenAlex
W3199219543
Cited by
4
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2023: 3
FWCI
1.32
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
ETS Research Report Series (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Education › Higher Education Research Studies
  • Social Sciences › Safety Research › Career Development and Diversity
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Medical Education and Admissions
Keywords
postgraduate admission, professional school admissions, student diversity, gender differences, racial and ethnic diversity, socioeconomic status, distance to school, score reports, standardized test scores

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