An application of constrained multicriteria sorting to student selection

Abstract

This research considers decision situations in which a portfolio of individuals is to be selected. Criteria relative to quality of individuals conflict with constraints on the composition of the group. This work applies to student selection problems in which the group criteria conflict with the constraints relative to the student portfolio. In this chapter, we propose an innovative methodology to support such a decision. In the first step, the Electre Tri method sorts students into ordered predefined categories according to how each student individually fulfills the selection requirements; in a second analysis, a mathematical programming formulation combines the results of the first step with the requirements on the student group to select a group of students who are individually good and satisfactory as a group. The methodology identifies a portfolio of students that is a good compromise between group constraints and the Electre Tri student classification. Although this new methodology is applied in the context of student selection, it can be applied widely in other multicriteria portfolio decision contexts.