Evaluation of Adverse Impact for US Air Force Officer and Aircrew Selection Tests
Abstract
Adverse impact issues have posed a challenge to military personnel selection. The purpose of the current study was to examine group differences in performance on tests used to qualify applicants for US Air Force officer commissioning and aircrew training programs. In particular, the impact of raising minimum qualifying scores on selection ratios for majority and minority groups was examined. Results indicated that strict application of the current minimum qualifying standards, along with top-down selection of qualified applicants, would lead to adverse impact for females and racial/ethnic minorities for both officer commissioning and aircrew training programs. Future test development should focus on the identification of tests that preserve the predictive validity of USAF personnel selection tests while minimizing subgroup differences. Reduction of adverse impact across all subgroups is a challenging issue. Sometimes changes in test content or the addition of a new test may reduce adverse impact for one subgroup but worsen it for another. Setting low minimum qualifying scores allows a greater range of applicants to be considered for training or job opportunities, but may adversely affect organizational performance (i.e., increase training requirements, reduce job performance). Minimum qualifying scores should be based on empirical research (e.g., job anal sis identify in the ability requirements for successful performance of the jobs being targeted.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA455689
Entities
People
- Thomas R. Carretta
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory