A cross-cultural test of sex bias in the predictive validity of scholastic aptitude examinations: Some Israeli findings

Abstract

The present study aims at empirically testing the cross-cultural validity of the “sex bias” contention with respect to standardized aptitude testing, routinely used for academic prediction purposes in the Israeli scene. The analyses are based on the scholastic aptitude test scores of 1778 Jewish and 1017 Arab student candidates who were administered standardized college entrance test batteries. The differential predictive validity of the tests, by gender, was separately examined for Jewish versus Arab cultural subgroups, via a variety of external test bias criteria. On the whole, little evidence was found for slope bias in the predictive validity of college entrance aptitude test scores within the Jewish or Arab populations. However, a slight intercept bias was evidenced within the Jewish subgroup, underpredicting the first year cumulative grade point average of female student candidates. Thus, our study is consistent with much previous research negating the sex bias hypothesis and lending a greater deal of cross-cultural validity and generality to the results of previous research in the literature.