ERIC Number: EJ1368998
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Dec
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1938-8926
EISSN: EISSN-1938-8934
Assessing Applicants in Context? School Profiles and Their Implications for Equity in the Selective College Admission Process
Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, v15 n6 p700-715 Dec 2022
Profiles describing a high school's quality and composition are one component of the undergraduate admission application to selective colleges, offering admission officers insight into a student's academic environment. This study explores alignment between the data admission officers seek in a profile to support their holistic evaluations and the information profiles contain. Drawing on semistructured interviews with 25 admission officers and a content analysis of 100 school profiles, the study identifies 14 key components of a profile but finds that 43% of high schools incorporated fewer than nine of these elements into their documents. Using social worlds theory as a lens, the study explains how the profile's status as a boundary object facilitates misalignment in its content. A purveyor of school contextual data, school profiles are designed to promote diversity within the admission process; this study illustrates how some profiles can constrain the ability of admission officers to make informed decisions, and thus may inadvertently perpetuate, rather than ameliorate, inequity.
Descriptors: Equal Education, College Applicants, College Admission, Admissions Officers, Selective Admission, High Schools, Institutional Characteristics, Alignment (Education), Administrator Attitudes, Profiles, Student Diversity, Barriers, Decision Making, Content Analysis, Holistic Approach
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Institute of Education Sciences (ED)
Authoring Institution: N/A
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305B150010