【Brownbag】How Do Non-Blind Tests Affect College Opportunity for Economically Disadvantaged Students? Evidence from Taiwan
2023/07/07
研討會日期 : 2023-07-07
時間 : 12:10
主講人 : Chih-Yu Tsou (鄒志宇)
地點 : Conference Room B110
演講者簡介 : Chih-Yu Tsou received his Master's Degree in Economics at Stockholm University. He is currently a Data Analyst at the National Academy for Educational Research. His research interests are Economics of Education, Labor Economics, and Economic History.
演講摘要 : I analyze how the use of non-blind tests by university-department combinations in college applications affect admissions probabilities of economically disadvantaged applicants (relative to their better-off peers). Non-blind tests here refer to application portfolios and interviews. I exploit the variation of grading percentages in non-blind tests across university-departments over time with administrative data in Taiwan in 2011-2021. The results suggest that an increase in the weighting of non-blind tests from 0–25% to 25–50% increases their admissions probabilities significantly by 4.73%, and the effect decreases with higher percentage levels. The effects are stronger in top and public universities and university-departments which note assistance for the underprivileged in admission requirements. This finding pinpoints potential mechanisms of the examiners’ social preferences regarding fairness and the attempts to identify non-cognitive skills of economically disadvantaged applicants through non-blind tests. Overall, non-blind tests may benefit economically disadvantaged applicants more than standardized exams which are "blind" to family backgrounds and personal qualities.
