Making Graduate Admissions Equitable

The graduate school admissions process is a critical component of plasma physics workforce pathways. Gatekeepers involved in admissions must address and mitigate sources of bias and discrimination in the admissions process that can disproportionally weed out marginalized communities. One notable source of bias is reliance on GRE scores as an admissions criterion. It is well known that GRE scores are highly correlated with wealth, race, and gender. Recent research has also demonstrated that GRE scores do not correlate well with graduate school success. Data and results about the viability of the GRE as a predictor will be presented and discussed. Eliminating the GRE as a requirement for admissions is a recommended approach for reducing bias in the admissions process.