Using Personal Statements in College Admissions: An Investigation of Gender Bias and the Effects of Increased Structure

Personal statements are among the most commonly used instruments in college admissions procedures. Yet, little research on their reliability, validity, and fairness exists. The first aim of this paper was to investigate hypotheses about adverse impact and underprediction for female applicants, which could result from lower tendencies to use agentic language compared to male applicants. Second, we examined if rating personal statements in a more structured manner would increase reliability and validity. Using personal statements (250 words) from a large cohort of applicants to an undergraduate psychology program at a Dutch University, we found no evidence for adverse impact for female applicants or more agentic language use by male applicants, and no relationship between agentic language use and personal statement ratings. In contrast, we found that personal statements of female applicants were rated slightly more positively than those of males. Exploratory analyses suggest that female applicants’ better writing skills might explain this difference. A more structured approach to rating personal statements yielded higher, but still only ‘moderate’ inter-rater reliability, and virtually identical, negligible predictive validity for first year GPA and dropout.

WORKSHOP PENULISAN PERSONAL STATEMENT DAN STUDY OBJECTIVE BAGI CALON PELAMAR BEASISWA PASCASARJANA

Seleksi beasiswa dan admisi ke program pascasarjana sangatlah kompetitif. Untuk dapat berhasil, peserta harus siap dengan beragam persyaratannya, termasuk esai study objective dan personal statement. Tidak semua calon pelamar beasiswa familiar dengan jenis esai ini, sehingga meneybabkan banyak peserta yang tereliminasi pada tahapan seleksi. Kegiatan pengabdian kepada masyarakat ini bertujuan untuk mempersiapkan calon pelamar beasiswa dari beragam kalangan dalam menulis kedua jenis esai tersebut. Kegiatan ini dilaksanakan dalam bentuk workshop secara daring dan peserta diminta untuk menuliskan esai personal statement dan study objective, yang kemudian direview dan diberikan sejumlah saran untuk meningkatkan kualitasnya. Hasil pelaksanaan workshop menunjukkan bahwa secara umum peserta sudah dapat menghasilkan esai yang fokus pada minat dan pengalaman riset, sehingga menonjolkan sisi kepakarannya. Evaluasi workshop menunjukkan bahwa materinya bermanfaat bagi peserta, dan umpan balik dari fasilitator dirasa sangat berguna untuk meningkatkan kualitas esai yang ditulis oleh peserta. Selain itu, peserta juga menyarankan agar diadakan workshop lanjutan yang membahas beragam tema terkait

DPM Foot and Ankle Fellowship Selection Criteria: Survey of Fellowship Directors

Background A recent increase in podiatric medicine fellowships has occurred as the field continues to progress. Research regarding selection criteria from a fellowship director's perspective for potential fellows is lacking. This study aimed to examine objective and subjective selection criteria that directors consider when selecting applicants for the interview and when ranking prospective fellows after the interview. Methods We electronically surveyed American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons fellowship directors with preselected criteria for granting applicants an interview and for compiling their ranking list after the interview. A Likert scale from 1 (most important) to 5 (least important) was used to prioritize each criterion, an average rating was calculated, and the results were placed in order of importance. Results The most important selection criteria for granting an interview were quality of residency program (1.985), a written personal statement of reasons for attending that fellowship (2.063), and publications/presentations produced as a resident (2.267). The most important criteria in completing the ranking order after the interview were assessment of applicant's personality (1.111), interview performance (1.173), and expressed interest in program (1.563). Conclusions Knowledge of the selection criteria that fellowship directors seek in applicants can assist those who desire to further their training. The selection criteria that program directors seek differed between being selected for the interview, which combined both objective and subjective criteria, and when compiling their rankings after the interview, which included only subjective criteria. Results show more emphasis on subjective selection criteria when directors select applicants for an interview and when ranking applicants after the interview.

Technologies of Teaching Academic Writing in English (The Case Study of Personal Statement)

Introduction. Developing academic communication skills is one the priorities in English language learning and teaching at universities. The process involves a comprehensive study into various genres of academic discourse. Written genres are of utmost importance since the greater part of academic communication takes place in a written form. Objective. The paper is aimed at describing the algorithm of teaching how to write a personal statement in English. Results. The author puts forward the methods that take into account genre conventions of a personal statement and special approaches to creating academic written texts that were designed by the foreign practitioners and are now being actively used by the Russian school of academic writing. Each stage employs universal and specific educational technologies that improve efficiency of class and independent work on personal statements. Conclusion. The algorithm consists of a wide range of procedures that enhance learning of the major components of a personal statement that refer to various knowledge dimensions. This approach enables all the participants to learn academic writing more effectively and consciously.