Pol Coetsier

Medical students' personality characteristics and academic performance: a five-factor model perspective

Objectives  This study investigates: (1) which personality traits are typical of medical students as compared to other students, and (2) which personality traits predict medical student performance in pre‐clinical years.

Situational Tests in Student Selection: An Examination of Predictive Validity, Adverse Impact, and Construct Validity

The Flemish Admission Exam ‘Medical and Dental Studies’ is comprised of four cognitive ability tests and four situational tests, namely two work samples (i.e., a lecture and a medical text) and two video-based situational judgement tests (i.e., a physician‐patient interaction and a medical expert discussion). On the basis of the Admission Exam scores of 941 candidates (359 men, 582 women) this study shows that situational tests significantly can predict better than cognitive ability tests, with lecture and text emerging as significant predictors. When situational tests are combined with cognitive ability tests, there are no mean gender differences. Situational tests also enable us to measure a broader range of constructs. For example, in this study, the personality factor Openness is related to better situational test performance. Overall, this study demonstrates that situational tests may be a useful complement to traditional student selection procedures.

A cross-cultural longitudinal analysis of the meaning of work and the socialization process of career starters

This research examines the cultural variations in the socialization process of youth, from seven different countries during their transition into the world of work. It represents one of the very few longitudinal studies among young career starters and their work values. We study the extent to which work centrality is trans-national or culturally/nationally specific. The most significant increase in work centrality was found to occur during the second year of employment. At the national level, cultural differences were identified using Hofstedes (1980) measures. Countries low in uncertainty avoidance were shown to have increased work centrality, while those high in masculinity-femininity appeared weakly influential.

Het toelatingsexamen ‘Arts en Tandarts’ in Vlaanderen: voorspellende validiteit en reacties van de studenten

Inleiding Sinds 1997 bestaat er in Vlaanderen een toelatingsexamen ‘Arts en Tandarts’, dat bestaat uit vier wetenschapsproeven, vier specifieke proeven die cognitieve vaardigheden meten en vier casusproeven. In deze studie evalueren wij dit toelatingsexamen op grond van objectieve (voorspellende validiteit) en subjectieve (percepties van de studenten) criteria.