How does graduate admissions work? Who does the system work for, and who falls through its cracks? Where does admissions reform fit into broader efforts to reduce inequalities in graduate education? In this talk, education professor Julie Posselt will pull back the curtain on admissions processes usually conducted in secret, and examine the limits and possibilities of rethinking admissions for increasing diversity in STEM. Drawing on more than five years of research that includes extensive observations of admission committees in action, Posselt will reveal how professors create and negotiate the meaning of merit as they evaluate applicants and work daily with their students. She will also show how departments that improve diversity through admissions and recruitment, but that lack strong mentoring relationships, may struggle to maintain gains serving underrepresented populations.
