Gender and ethnic composition of assessment centers and its relationship to participants' success

Although assessment centers (ACs) are recognized for their high validity, the lack of standardization associated with some aspects of ACs may limit their strength. One source for lack of standardization is the demographic composition within the AC, which may affect members' actual or perceived performance. We investigate the influences of gender and ethnicity (Jewish vs. Arab) compositions of participants and assessors on participants' success in ACs for educational managerial positions in Israel. Participants were 384 candidates from 44 ACs. The participants' success was determined by the assessors' subjective impressions. A higher proportion of female participants was associated with higher scores for males, especially when the proportion of female assessors was high. A higher proportion of Arab participants was associated with higher scores for Jews. These findings demonstrate the problems associated with the lack of AC standardization.