Sex differences in validity for academic and employment criteria, and different types of predictors.

Sex differences in validity coefficients were examined for a total of 6,219 pairs of validities. Differences were also examined for subsets of predictors and criteria and a random sample of pairs of validities from independent data sets. Data were taken from studies in Educational and Psychological Measurement, the Journal of Applied Psychology, and Personnel Psychology from 1955 to the present and from the manuals of the Differential Aptitude Test Battery and the College Qualification Tests. Female validities were slightly but significantly higher than male validities for academic criteria and for all predictor subsets, with the exception of high school background and personality predictors. Female validities were also greater than male validities (.037 in correlation units) in the random sample of independent validity pairs. Male validities were slightly higher for high school background and personality predictors and for employment criteria. The generalizability of the finding concerning employment criteria and the latter 2 predictor subsets is questionable because of the small number of pairs of validities available and the nonindependence of the pairs that were available. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)