The influence of educational preparation on evaluations of applicants for radiation therapy positions: A policy-capturing experiment

Abstract

Purpose To determine whether radiation therapy department administrators prefer to hire graduates with certain types of educational preparation. The study was undertaken by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists as part of a larger project to determine educational requirements for radiation therapists. Methods and materials Forty-one department administrators evaluated applications from a pool of 984 hypothetical applicants for the position of radiation therapist. Applications were created by systematically varying eight characteristics such as years of experience, quality of educational program, and ratings from prior references. Type of educational program (baccalaureate degree, associate’s degree, or hospital certificate) was of particular interest in this study. Each administrator evaluated 24 applications and assigned a rating ranging from 1 to 5 to indicate the extent to which he or she desired to interview each applicant. All ratings and applicant characteristics were coded and subjected to regression-type analyses to determine the relative importance of each applicant characteristic to administrators’ decision-making policies. Results Information obtained from applicant references had the greatest impact on administrators’ evaluations of applicant quality. Specifically, reference ratings of cooperation and technical skills were the two most important characteristics, followed closely by reference ratings of interpersonal skills and dependability. Quality of educational program had some influence, as did years of experience. Type of educational program had virtually no impact on interview decisions for a vast majority of the administrators. Conclusions When making hiring decisions about hypothetical applicants, department administrators place most emphasis on evidence relating to past performance and give almost no weight to type of educational preparation. The extent to which these results generalize to actual applicants is addressed in the article.