Bias in the Ivory Tower: An unintended consequence of the Buckley Amendment for graduate admissions?

Abstract

Sought to determine if graduate admissions officers would favor applicants whose credentials appeared in dossiers that were confidential as opposed to open. The dossiers of 253 applicants for graduate study in psychology were examined. Graduate Record Examination scores and grades were used to classify Ss as high or low in academic competence. Other information abstracted from each S's dossier included the doctoral program to which the S had applied, the type of dossier S had submitted (open or confidential), and S's admission status (accepted or rejected). An Ability × Doctoral Program × Type of Dossier ANOVA of Ss' admission status scores revealed that admissions personnel did favor applicants with confidential dossiers. Moreover, this favoritism was apparent at each level of S competence and in each of the 4 doctoral programs involved. (3 ref) (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)