The GREs might be a factor, but I would look at this study to see that it is not the only factor (and maybe not even the biggest). http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2063742 Researchers sent identical application letters to over 6500 professors asking for graduate support. The only difference was the names on the letters were created to be obviously ethnic. What they found? It is not hard to guess. White males much more often received positive responses. Women and and other minorities (including Asians) were much less likely to receive positive responses. There was also a higher bias in STEM than in the humanities. We've got a ways to go, yet. Best, Glenn Glenn Dolphin, PhD Tamaratt Teaching Professor University of Calgary Department of Geoscience Earth Science 118 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 1N4 [log in to unmask] 403.220.6025 ________________________________ From: Julie Libarkin [[log in to unmask]] Sent: Sunday, January 04, 2015 3:16 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Graduate student admission time... All: I am sure the rest of you are also either encouraging your undergraduates in their graduate school applications or reviewing applications to your programs (or both). Every year I have to argue with my colleagues about the value of the GRE as a predictive measure of graduate student success. I found this NATURE article published in the summer of 2014, and thought some of you might be interested. I really appreciated the authors' discussion of diversity and STEM, and the role the GRE may be playing in limiting diversity. http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/science/articles/10.1038/nj7504-303a I would love to hear other people's take on this and experiences, as well. Happy New Year! Julie Julie Libarkin Associate Professor Director - Geocognition Research Lab Michigan State University 288 Farm Lane, 206 Natural Science East Lansing, MI 48824 Phone: 517-355-8369 https://www.msu.edu/~libarkin Affiliations: Center for Integrative Studies in General Science, Department of Geological Sciences, Cognitive Science Program, Environmental Science and Policy Program, CREATEforSTEM