Using personal statements in college admissions: An investigation of gender bias and the effects of increased structure

Personal statements are among the most commonly used instruments in college admissions procedures. Yet, little research on their reliability, validity, and fairness exists. The first aim of this paper was to investigate hypotheses about adverse impact underprediction for female applicants, which could result from lower tendencies use agentic language compared male applicants. Second, we examined if rating personal a more structured manner would increase reliability validity. Using (250 words) large cohort applicants an undergraduate psychology program at Dutch University, found no evidence or by relationship between statement ratings. In contrast, that were rated slightly positively than those males. Exploratory analyses suggest applicants’ better writing skills might explain difference. A approach yielded higher, but still only ‘moderate’ inter-rater virtually identical, negligible predictive validity year GPA dropout.