Mind the Gap: Between-group differences and fair test use

This paper integrates recent meta‐analytical findings regarding group differences in job‐ and educational‐related criteria and cognitive ability measures used as predictors in personnel selection and selection to higher education institutions. The findings suggest that cognitive ability measures reveal much higher group differences than the corresponding between‐group differences in job‐ and educational‐related criteria. One possible explanation for these differential gaps is that cognitive ability measures are objective and standardized while the typical measures used as job‐ and‐educational related criteria are non‐standardized subjective evaluations of job performance and academic achievement. While these findings are consistent with unbiased prediction or over‐prediction for lower scoring groups, they imply that selection is biased against them. Implications and future research are discussed.