Quantifying inequity in research assistant selection procedures at Turkish universities

Abstract

This research investigates the hiring procedure for research assistants in Turkish universities to see if it complies with fair employment law. According to the law, applicants should be ranked according to the weighted average of their GPA (30%), graduate examination score (30%), academic examination score (30%), and foreign language skills score (10%). However, the subjective academic examination score is widely believed to shadow other factors. To test whether the applicants are ranked according to the fair employment rules, 2409 applicant data for 530 positions is collected from 53 Turkish universities. The findings suggest that the final score of the applicants is almost entirely based on the highly subjective academic examination score conducted by the hiring institution. It is also found that the academic examination scores are inversely related to the candidates’ GPA, which is against common sense. This inverse relation suggests that favoritism is the primary reason for the inequity in the hiring practice at Turkish universities.