Admissions Roulette: Predictive Factors for Success in Practice

Abstract

This paper describes the construction of a multivariate predictive index of student field performance to be used as an admissions tool in graduate schools of social work. Using student data available at time of admission, and employing the statistical techniques of factor analysis and multiple regression, the authors developed an index that explained more than 38 percent of the variance in student field performance. This index measures the simultaneous effect on field performance of (1) a measure of the student's intellectual ability, (2) the quality of the student's undergraduate school, (3) the student's prior work experience, and (4) the student's sex.