Equitable Practices and Mindsets for Graduate Admissions

Dr. Julie R. Posselt

PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

In this Ivy+ Faculty Advancement Network Institute prologue, we meet Dr. Julie R. Posselt, Professor of Higher Education at the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education, Executive Director of the USC Center for Enrollment Research Policy and Practice, and Associate Dean in the USC Graduate School.

Professor Posselt observes that every generation of higher education leaders inherits the policies and practices of the generation before it. Although not of our own making, Professor Posselt argues, many of the routines of our universities are now ours, and we are the ones responsible for what will be handed down.

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision on SFFA vs. Harvard/UNC, Professor Posselt tells us that this is the moment to interrogate what our programs really exist for – that is, their missions – whether DEI goals fit into them, and how we can better align selection criteria, training, and our routines with them.

This is a production of the Ivy+ Faculty Advancement Network, with technical expertise provided by eCornell.

Discourse Guide

BEFORE THE MEETING

• Watch or listen to Posselt's video prologue [20 min].

• Read the article by Posselt and her colleagues, "Redefining Merit through New Routines: Holistic Admissions Policy Implementation in Graduate Education" [21pp].

AT THE MEETING

• In small groups:

  • Give each participant a copy of this two-page Rubric Checklist, then divide the room into groups. Depending on the number of attendees, each group should take on at least one and no more than three standards from the rubric.

    —> If your department/unit uses an evaluation rubric in graduate admissions, assess it against the checklist's nine elements. Which of these standards has your department found challenging to realize and why?

    —> If your department does not use a rubric or other evaluation protocol, identify and reflect on at least one challenge and one breakthrough you have experienced in graduate admissions.

  • Share your struggles, your revelations, or just your thoughts on the rubric checklist exercise. If permitted, share your departments’ rubrics, if they exist.

• All together:

  • Look first for consensus.

    • Which standards are generally viewed as low-hanging fruit that some are already executing, and others could work toward implementing this year?

    • Which does everyone feel may require more sustained and prolonged work? Why?

  • Then look for dissensus.

    • Where do people vary widely on their impressions of what is low-hanging vs. do-able?

      • First, ask those who see something as a big undertaking: what’s being missed by those who think it’s do-able?

      • What can those who see something as “do-able” teach those who see it as a big undertaking?

  • The meeting convener drafts the unresolved questions and reads the points (and invites corrections) before you adjourn. Send these questions in an email to your DEI staff, dean’s office, provost’s office and/or senior diversity officer. Invite them to join your next department/unit meeting for a discussion about the lingering questions.

FOR FURTHER INQUIRY:

Books:

• Posselt, J. R. (2020). Equity in Science: Representation, Culture, and the Dynamics of Change in Graduate Education. Stanford University Press.

• Posselt, J. R. (2018). Inside Graduate Admissions: Merit, Diversity, and Faculty Gatekeeping. Harvard Education Press.

Articles & Chapters:

• Carter, D. F., Dueñas, J. E. R., & Mendoza, R. (2019). Critical examination of the role of STEM in propagating and maintaining race and gender disparities. In Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research (pp. 39–97) M. B. Paulsen & L. W. Perna (Eds.). Cham: Springer.

• Posselt, J. & Johnson, R. (10 July, 2023). Confronting Racism After Affirmative Action. Inside Higher Ed.

• Posselt, J. R., & Grodsky, E. (2017). Graduate education and social stratification. Annual Review of Sociology, 43, 353-378.

• Posselt, J. R., Reyes, K. A., Slay, K., Kamimura, A., & Porter, K. (2017). Equity efforts as boundary work: How symbolic and social boundaries shape access and inclusion in graduate education. Teachers College Record 199 (10), 1-38.

• Posselt, J. R., Hernandez, T. & Villarreal, C. (2020). "Choose wisely: Making decisions with and for equity in higher education," in Higher Education Administration for Social Justice and Equity: Critical Perspectives for Leadership, ed. Kezar, A. and Posselt, J. R.. Routledge.

Reports:

• National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. (2018). Graduate STEM Education for the 21st Century.

• Columbia University's Guide to Equity-based Graduate Admissions.

Videos/Recorded Lectures:

• Posselt, J. R. (26 Sep 2023) "Toward an equity-minded graduate education," University of Chile, Santiago.