Situational Judgment Tests, MCAT, and GPA may result in bias against applicants from lower income levels during the medical school admissions process and are more likely to select applicants motivated by status, financial gains, and familial pressure to pursue medicine, new SortSmart study suggests

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - Highlights:

• Medical school admissions practices favor higher income applicants: 50% of accepted applicants come from families earning at least $100,000 annually, with 16% from families with income in excess of $200,000 annually.
• Majority (70%) of accepted applicants are partially or completely extrinsically motivated to pursue medicine by status, financial gain, or familial tradition or pressure.
• Majority (54%) of accepted applicants identify themselves as Caucasian with only 26% from various minority groups.
• Selection based on MCAT and GPA appears to favor higher income applicants who score significantly higher than their disadvantaged peers.
• The use of situational judgment tests does not appear to offer any significant advantage in promoting diversity nor in selecting intrinsically motivated applicants.
• Majority (55%) of accepted applicants screened using situational judgment tests come from families making at least $100,000 annually, with 19% coming from households with an annual income in excess of $200,000; similar to applicants accepted without the use of situational judgment tests.
• Majority (51%) of accepted applicants screened using situational judgment tests are self-identifying Caucasians; similar to applicants accepted without the use of situational judgment tests.
• Majority (69%) of accepted applicants screened using situational judgment tests report they were partially or completely extrinsically motivated to pursue medicine by wealth, status, or familial tradition; similar to applicants accepted without the use of situational judgment tests.

Most medical schools select applicants based on their performance on the medical college admissions test (MCAT) and grade point average (GPA), with a few also including situational judgment test scores in their selection formula. However, a new study by SortSmart suggests that the use of MCAT and GPA during the admissions process may cause bias against lower income applicants, as applicants from families earning over $200K/year have significantly higher GPA and MCAT scores compared to those from lower income families. Furthermore, neither MCAT nor GPA appear to be able to select intrinsically motivated applicants with majority (70%) of accepted applicants indicating that they are motivated to pursue medicine by extrinsic motives. 

The use of situational judgment tests does not appear to show any significant advantage in promoting diversity or selecting intrinsically motivated applicants, as the majority of accepted applicants screened using situational judgment tests come from families making at least $100,000 annually, with 19% coming from households with an annual income in excess of $200,000. Similarly, the majority (70%) of applicants accepted using situational judgment tests appear to be extrinsically motivated.

"The primary challenge of any admissions screening process in higher education remains the ability to select intrinsically motivated applicants while promoting diversity. This challenge is even more critical to address in selection of applicants for high-stake roles, such as screening of future medical doctors. Given the results of this study, it is now time to question the value of setting MCAT and GPA cutoffs, requiring applicants to take situational judgment tests, or attend in-person interviews. If we want to promote diversity and fairness, we need to start adopting a more innovative solution that can detect the level of intrinsic motivation of applicants. There is over 40 years of research demonstrating that individuals who are intrinsically motivated perform better, experience less burnout, and report greater life and job satisfaction. Furthermore, intrinsic motivation does not appear to correlate with wealth, gender, or racial background. Given the overwhelming evidence, I am confident that most forward-thinking institutions will be revamping their admissions procedure for the following admissions cycle to avoid the unintended bias in admissions while selecting better suited applicants. To do our part, I am excited to announce that we have made our motivation-based admissions screening software available at no cost to institutions and their applicants." – Said Dr. Behrouz Moemeni, PhD, CEO at SortSmart

About the survey:

The survey was completed using Qualtrics survey software with a representative sample of 426 Canadian medical school students and residents in comparison with a randomly selected survey of 314 students and residents from McMaster medical school. A probability sample of the same size would yield a margin of error +/- 5%, 19 times out of 20. To view the study results, click here.

About SortSmart®:

SortSmart Candidate Selection Inc. ("SortSmart") is the pioneer of motivation-based applicant screening. SortSmart develops applicant screening software for university admissions and employee selection with an emphasis on selection based on intrinsic motivation. SortSmart's mission is to promote diversity and reduce barriers to access in higher education. SortSmart's software is designed to decrease the time and resources required to select the best fit applicants. SortSmart is the only company that offers the use of its software to educational institutions and their applicants at no cost.

SOURCE SortSmart Candidate Selection Inc.