Build and Broaden: Promoting Access to Graduate Education in Social Sciences (PAGES)

研究生院的录取过程往往不能确定所有可能预测研究生院成功的相关因素。这次会议的目的是确定一些最有希望的方法来增加研究生录取的公平性。目标是制定更全面的评价战略。招生时要考虑的因素包括研究机会，申请过程中的指导，以及生活中的挑战。一些本科院校和一些少数民族院校不能提供研究机会，以帮助他们的学生成为有竞争力的研究型研究生课程的申请者。此外，对标准化考试的过度依赖往往将代表性不足的学者排除在外。更全面的申请程序可能会识别那些通过维持学校、工作和家庭责任而学会了时间管理的研究生申请人。该项目将调查研究生课程，随后是为期两天的虚拟会议，重点是了解心理学学生的本科研究途径。有关如何使申请过程更加透明和高效的结果将会公布。此外，还将开发实用技巧，以增加不同的少数民族服务机构和研究密集型机构之间的研究经验和合作。当学术界的多样性不能反映大众的多样性时，就会在创新、观点和潜在的知识创造方面造成巨大损失。1993年，美国心理学会决定“高度重视与少数民族教育有关的问题”。20多年后，非裔美国人、拉丁裔美国人和印第安人在各级学术界的代表性仍然不足。在高等教育中，严重依赖标准化考试的招生做法可能会使这种代表性不足的现象长期存在。标准化考试有利于有经济实力的学生，他们有能力参加多次考试或支付昂贵的预科班费用。由于新冠肺炎大流行的障碍，许多大学暂时放弃了标准化考试要求。这为重新构想研究生招生提供了一个机会。这个项目的目标是双重的。参与招生过程的学者和管理人员将努力开发一种替代的研究生招生系统，利用多种可能的预测因素来预测研究生院的成功。这将通过一个虚拟会议来完成，在这个会议上，有关当前招生实践的数据将被评估。其次，认识到本科研究经历不仅对研究生录取至关重要，而且对研究生院的成功也至关重要，本次会议将建立区域合作伙伴关系，为代表性不足的学生，特别是那些研究资源较少的少数民族院校的学生，增加高质量研究机会的数量。这将通过促进R1机构与区域和少数民族服务机构之间的联系来实现，并将会议作为初步启动。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Graduate school admissions processes often fail to identify all the relevant factors that might predict success in graduate school. The aim of this conference is to identify some of the most promising ways to increase fairness in graduate admissions. The goal is to develop more holistic evaluation strategies. Factors to consider in admissions include research opportunities, or lack thereof, application process mentoring, and life challenges. Some undergraduate institutions, and some minority-serving institutions, cannot provide the research opportunities to help their students be competitive applicants for research oriented graduate programs. In addition, the over-reliance on standardized tests often exclude under-represented scholars. More holistic application processes might identify graduate school applicants who have learned time-management processes via maintaining school, work, and home responsibilities. This project will survey graduate programs, followed by a two-day virtual conference, with an emphasis on understanding the undergraduate research pathway for psychology students. Results regarding how to make the application process more transparent and efficient will be disseminated. In addition, practical tips for increasing research experiences and collaborations across diverse minority-serving and research-intensive institutions will be developed. When the diversity of the academy does not reflect the diversity of the general population, there is a tremendous loss in innovation, perspectives, and potential knowledge generation. In 1993, the American Psychological Association resolved to “place a high priority on issues related to the education of ethnic minorities.” More than 20 years later, African Americans, Latinx, and Native Americans remain underrepresented in all levels of academia. Within higher education, admissions practices that rely heavily on standardized testing can perpetuate that under-representation. Standardized tests advantage students with financial means who can afford to take the test multiple times or pay for expensive preparatory classes. Many universities are temporarily waiving standardized testing requirements due to barriers related to the COVID-19 pandemic. That provides a window of opportunity to reimagine graduate admissions. The goal of this project is two-fold. Scholars and administrators involved in the admissions process will work to develop an alternate system of graduate admissions that utilizes multiple possible predictors of graduate school success. This will be accomplished through a virtual conference, in which data regarding current admissions practices will be evaluated. Second, recognizing that undergraduate research experience is critical to not only graduate admissions, but also success in graduate school, this conference will develop a regional partnership to increase the number of high quality research opportunities available to underrepresented students, particularly those at minority-serving institutions with fewer research resources. This will be done by facilitating connections between R1 institutions and regional and minority-serving institutions, using the conference as an initial launch.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.