Pilot selection procedure: Oxford Internet Institute courses
About
This page provides information about the continuing pilot to improve the selection procedure for graduate applications, in order to ensure all candidates are evaluated fairly.
Motivation
At Oxford Internet Institute we are committed to advancing equality, diversity, and inclusion both within our own scholarly community and externally, through the impact of our research. Building on our Shirley Scholars Fund - aimed at supporting students with an interest in diversity and fairness in technology - we are keen to join the selection pilot and explore actions aimed at better contextualising our admissions procedures for graduate students. This will help us to identify the students with the greatest potential for academic excellence and will also support our selection of candidates for studentships aimed at disadvantaged groups.
The information provided on this page applies to all courses taking part in the selection pilot that are listed below (unless indicated otherwise).
Courses taking part in the selection pilot
This list will continue to be updated as courses are opened to accept applications. Please check back regularly for updates.
What actions are we taking?
We will be:
- taking into consideration socio-economic data as part of the shortlisting and decision-making process.
The academic selection criteria used for shortlisting and selection at interview are listed on the individual course pages that can be accessed through the course links above.
What do these things mean and why are we taking these actions?
Use of collected socio-economic data
For the courses taking part in the selection pilot, we will take into consideration the socio-economic data collected in the graduate application form, where it has been provided, for the assessment of applications. Further details can be found in the Socio-economic data section of this page.
Selection of offer holders for college places
The changes apply to the departmental selection procedure only. The college selection procedure has not been amended, and will be undertaken in the same way as for any other courses within the University.
Collection of socio-economic data
The University currently collects a range of socio-economic data from candidates who apply for graduate study. This information is used to understand the demographics of those applying and of candidates who are offered places, but it is not available to assessors.
We would like to use these data to contextualise our shortlisting and decision-making processes. Academic assessors will be enabled to do this by the use of a flagging system similar to that used for United Kingdom applicants for undergraduate admissions.
By better understanding your socio-economic background, we can better understand the challenges that you have had in your education to date.