Anonymous shortlisting of medical school applicants does not work

Medical school applicants from ethnic minority groups are less likely to gain a place than their white counterparts. On p 82 Lumb and Vail describe how they found no evidence that this apparent disadvantage arises from direct negative discrimination by selectors at Leeds University. All application forms from the United Kingdom and EU were assessed both with and without details of the applicant's name and nationality visible. There were no significant differences between blind and open scores in the shortlisting process. Even when anonymised, up to 50% of applications from candidates with non-European names were identified as being from ethnic minority applicants. Applicants with non-European names did less well than others in academic and some non-academic areas of assessment.

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Relevant Article

Difficulties with anonymous shortlisting of medical school applications and its effects on candidates with non-European names: prospective cohort study

Andrew B Lumb and Andy Vail
BMJ 2000 320: 82-85. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]