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Can Test Preparation Help to Reduce the Black—White Test Performance Gap?

Department of Management, College of Business, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, beth.chung{at}sdsu.edu

Karen Holcombe Ehrhart

Department of Management, College of Business, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182

Mark G. Ehrhart

Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182

Jerry Solamon

Department of Human Resources, City Hall Tower, Atlanta, GA 30303

Britta Kilian

Department of Educational Psychology, University of Mannheim, Germany

Using a field sample, the authors examined the extent to which race is related to test preparation and whether test preparation is related to test performance. They found that African Americans reported more self-initiated test preparation than Caucasians did and that tutorial attendance and self-initiated test preparation were related to test performance. Moreover, the authors found that only self-initiated test preparation mediated the race—performance relationship. Last, the hypothesis that the Matthew Effect (defined as the amplification of any initial advantage that leads to cumulative effects) would hold in an employment setting was not supported. The implications of test preparation are discussed.

Key Words: race • ethnicity • test preparation • job knowledge tests • Mathew Effect

This version was published on October 1, 2009

Journal of Management, Vol. 35, No. 5, 1207-1227 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0149206308328506


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