Chapter 11: The Effects of National Origin of Applicants on Admission Decisions for a Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership: Is It a Level Playing Field?

This study focuses on admission decisions for a doctoral program in educational leadership and assesses if applicants varying in national origin perform differently on common academic predictors and if admission decisions by faculty are consistent relative to the usage of these common academic predictors. To assess these issues of facial neutrality and consistency, a field study is conducted and a MANOVA is performed, which varies systematically the national origin of applicants and outcomes from the admission process with dependent variables, being GPAs and GRE scores. Results indicate that only UGAPs are facially neutral across national origins and GGPAs, GRE Q, and GRE V fail to be facially neutral. However, admission decisions are found to be consistent when based on these academic predictors, but these decisions ignore that national origins vary in their performance on these predictors. To provide a level playing field for all national origins, specific recommendations are made.