{"id":26,"date":"2022-01-25T14:07:14","date_gmt":"2022-01-25T14:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.soe.umich.edu\/mac\/?page_id=26"},"modified":"2026-08-10T15:41:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T15:41:31","slug":"research-initiatives","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/mac\/research-initiatives\/","title":{"rendered":"Research Initiatives"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-background is-style-default\" style=\"background-color:#fad21e;color:#fad21e\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:19px\"><strong>Current Projects<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:45px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>How have recent changes impacted the field of admissions?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through this qualitative project, we aim to understand how the field of admissions has changed over the past decade given significant policy and practice disruptions. Our goal is to interview 100 admission officers at different institutions to gain a broad understanding of what admissions practices currently entail and how admissions professionals are navigating a turbulent admissions landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Is Calculus a Gatekeeper in Selective College Admissions?Insights from a Lab-in-the-Field Experiment with Admissions Officers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lower-resourced high schools are far less likely to offer calculus, raising concerns that calculus availability may be a gatekeeper in selective college admissions. Using a lab-in-the-field experiment (292 admissions officers, 1768 total observations), we investigate whether STEM applicants are penalized for not taking calculus\u2014even when it was unavailable to them. We also investigate whether Asian American applicants without calculus are more heavily penalized compared to similar White applicants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Paper forthcoming<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Are College Applicants Penalized for Not Submitting Test Scores?\u00a0Experimental Evidence on Test-Optional Admissions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This study contributes to the growing body of literature on test-optional admissions policy by examining the decision making of individual admission officers as they evaluate STEM applications with and without standardized testing data. Through a lab-in-the-field experiment, we investigate whether STEM applicants who submit standardized testing are more likely to receive admission recommendations than equally qualified applicants without test scores. Informed by the Shifting Standards Model, we also test whether Asian American applicants who decline to submit test scores are evaluated more negatively than their White peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Paper forthcoming<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:25%\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:25%\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-background is-style-default\" style=\"background-color:#fad21e;color:#fad21e\" \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Current Projects How have recent changes impacted the field of admissions? Through this qualitative project, we aim to understand how<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-26","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"fimg_url":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/mac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/mac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/mac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/mac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/mac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/mac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":749,"href":"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/mac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26\/revisions\/749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/mac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}