Toward a More Equitable and Effective Physics Graduate Admissions Process

Graduate education in physics plays a role in determining the next generation of leaders in industry, government, and academia, with the latter educating future generations of leaders in science and engineering. Given the potential consequences of our decisions in physics graduate admissions, care should be taken to ensure that the process is working effectively and fairly. In this talk, I will describe the reform efforts that occurred in a physics department at a Midwestern university. First, I'll describe using machine learning to understand what drove admissions decisions in the department, finding that an applicant's grade point average and physics GRE score largely determined admission. Given that these are not equitable for all applicants, the second half of this talk will explore whether a rubric-based holistic admissions process might be able to address those inequities. I will share preliminary evidence that suggests that it does. I'll end with suggestions that departments can take to make their admissions process more equitable.