ASSESSING THE SNAPSHOT: SOCIAL REPRODUCTION IN SELECTIVE ADMISSIONS

Broadly, this dissertation seeks to better understand the inner-workings of admissions offices at selective independent schools — how they evaluate candidates, the data points that influence their decisions, and the opportunities available to refine their approach. At its core, however, this is an exploration into the role of non-cognitive assessments, like the Character Skills Snapshot, and their influence on the admissions process.Applying Bourdieu’s theory of social reproduction to independent schools, this study asserts that the selective admissions process is one of the means by which these institutions tend to perpetuate inequities that exist elsewhere in society. In this way, the central research question at the heart of the study relates to Character Skills Snapshot, discerning whether it has the capacity to disrupt the isomorphic pressures within the admissions landscape or if it is being coopted by existing systems of social domination. Employing a qualitative research design, the study utilizes semi-structured interviews with seven senior-level administrators from admissions offices across the United States to gather insights about admissions work. The study explores their motivations for adopting non-cognitive admissions tools, like the Character Skills Snapshot, the ways practitioners are leveraging these results during candidate evaluation, any potential alternative applications beyond the admissions funnel, and the limitations preventing schools from doing even more with these data points.Research findings suggest that while admissions professionals view the Character Skills Snapshot as a valuable data point in their holistic review process, it is unlikely to play a consequential role in admissions decisions, functioning primarily as a corroborative measure to identify trends and triangulate information within an applicant’s file. In this way, the dissertation concludes that the Snapshot has only a limited capacity to disrupt the durable systems of social domination that exist within independent schools.