Jeffrey Grim, assistant professor of higher education, examines the differences in admissions practices between selective institutions in the UK (Oxford and Cambridge) and the US (Ivy League institutions) in his recent paper “The Power of Professors and Professionals: How Professions Shape Organizational Systems in Elite University Admissions,” which has been published in Professions and Professionalism.
While both the UK and US admissions systems are socially stratified by race and class, Grim and his co-author Anna Mountford-Zimdars of the University of Exeter shed light on how admissions selectors are making decisions on very different criteria because of their professional background.
One of the major differences they found was the variability with which extracurricular activities and experiences influenced selectors’ perspectives. Ivy League selectors were professional staff and followed a “holistic review” process that took into account non-academic characteristics such as talents, experiences, identities, and organizational needs, and had to meet the unique wants and needs of academic and extracurricular organizational units external to their admissions office. Oxford selectors, all of whom were academic faculty, sought to admit students based on academic ability and potential, and did not have as many external factors to consider.
“As researchers of higher education, I hope we can continue to make international connections and do more comparative research that can help policy makers in many international contexts think more innovatively,” Grim said. “More comparative research about the UK and US should be considered due to their similar cultural context, yet different policy and organizational decision-making processes.”
September 15, 2023