REFLECTIONS ON AFFIRMATIVE-ACTION GOALS IN PSYCHOLOGY ADMISSIONS

Four goals of affirmative action in higher education are described as they relate to psychology admissions. Broadly conceived, these goals a re compensating for past injustice, correcting present inequity, promo ting intellectual diversity, and enhancing the presence of role models . It is argued that the four goals differ in their underlying assumpti ons about the purposes of affirmative action and that these difference s can result in disparate admission decisions. Data from three experim ents on decision making in graduate psychology admissions are presente d to illustrate the analysis. In these studies, academic psychologists rated the admissibility of hypothetical graduate student applicants w ho varied on a number of characteristics (e.g., ethnicity, social clas s, interest in minority research) pertinent to affirmative action. A c onsistent pattern of ethnic group differences in admissibility ratings was documented, illustrating that compensation for past injustice can be interpreted as a salient affirmative action goal in graduate admis sions decisions. Implications of the analysis for clarifying admission s decisions guided by affirmative action goals are discussed.