GMAT Analytical Writing Assessment: Predictor of Success for MBA Students With Respect to GPA

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1 GMAT Analytical Writing Assessment: Predictor of Success for MBA Students With Respect to GPA Mary K. Cook-Wallace University of Tennessee Martin Kevin L. Hammond University of Tennessee Martin ABSTRACT The GMAT analytical writing assessment (AWA) is an important tool and plays an essential role in the effective assessment of graduate students vying for a place in an MBA program. Research is limited on the prediction of student success in the MBA program. For that reason, the researchers examined the relationship between GMAT analytical writing scores and graduate GPA. Results indicated a statistically significant positive correlation between GMAT writing score and graduate GPA. Also reported was the relationships of GMAT writing score with other measures (GMAT verbal score, GMAT quantitative score, undergraduate GPA) that are purported to predict business graduate student success. INTRODUCTION It is essential that MBA students be proficient in writing abilities not only for graduate success in the management program but for workplace success as well. Rogers and Rymer [19] contend that management writing in the workplace is especially important. Employers seek potential hires with excellent communication skills, in particular, written communication skills. Of the most requested skills of those entering the workforce is written communication skills [12]. MBA student success depends on their abilities to articulate in writing what they know. Learning objectives in business schools continue to recognize writing as a valuable skill toward the success of graduating students. According to Ragothaman, Carpenter, and Davies [18], research to predict student success in MBA programs is lacking. In 1994, the AWA, designed by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), was added to the business school admissions test, the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT). The GMAT AWA is the tool used to determine writing skills of potential MBA students. AWA was designed twofold, first to assess student abilities to analyze an issue, and second to assess student abilities to analyze an argument. According to the GMAT Information Bulletin [8], only the test takers capacity to write analytically is being assessed. Knowledge of the issue is not assessed, but the aptitude and competence to analyze is assessed. Evaluators of the AWA are less

2 interested in grammar, mechanics and spelling as they place more weight on structure and content. AWA scores range from 0 to 6 and represent the average of the rating from the two essays. Because the essays are scored differently from the verbal and quantitative sections, essay scores are not included in the total score [7]. Each section is assessed separately, whereas currently the argument and issue section scores are often assessed as one. Because the argument and issue section scores are highly correlated, they are sufficient in providing the predictive value [9]. PURPOSE OF STUDY Though research on MBA student performance is plentiful, there is very little research to predict student success in MBA programs [18]. Roberts and Rymer [20] indicated that until the MBA student has worked in the field, only then can validity studies determine if the AWA predicts competencies needed for MBA coursework. The purpose of this study is to further examine the relationship between GMAT analytical writing scores and graduate GPA (a measure of student success). LITERATURE REVIEW The review of literature reveals a mix of findings regarding GMAT scores as predictors of MBA student success. Kuncel, Crede, and Thomas [16] indicated that their meta-analysis illustrates MBA academic performance is related to GMAT scores. In an illustrative study at one university, Gropper [11] reported that for executive MBA students, GMAT scores had a practically no relation to overall academic success. Feldman [6] asserts that faculty members are aware that GMAT scores aren t great predictors of success in business (p. 217). To the contrary, Hill, Hynes, Joyce, & Green [13], suggest that the AWA is significantly correlated with achievement on the writing assignment and on a managerial communication course. To determine the variables most closely related to student academic success, and where the MBA student s overall GPA was the dependent variable, Yang and Lu [26] found the undergraduate GPA was the most important predictor of student graduate performance. Sulaiman and Mohezar [22] note that followed by the undergraduate discipline, undergraduate grades are the best predictors of MBA academic performance. Koys [15] found GPA toward the end of the MBA program is most accurately predicted by the GMAT. With a sense of supposition, Salik [21] stated GMAT scores and years of work experience are often thought to be predictors of student success in MBA programs (p. 1). For fear of business school s rankings performance, some schools have chosen to accept the GRE in place of the GMAT for admittance [3]. Harvard, Wharton, Darden, Stanford, Queen s, Tulane s Freeman, and MIT s Sloan, among other prominent business schools (approximately 100 total), are allowing students to submit GRE scores with their applications for MBA programs [2]. The review of literature for the AWA of the GMAT suggests somewhat less support for the AWA as a predictor of student success. However, Noll and Stowers [17] contend the scores alone from holistic scoring of the AWA are insufficient to determine writing problems. Knight [14] reported that instead of using the AWA of the GMAT as a proficiency tool, business schools

3 use their own writing exams. Educators and professionals consider timed impromptu essays formulaic and unresponsive to the process of writing [1], [25], as cited in [10] (p. 306). The writing process requires many detailed steps and various considerations before the final draft can be acceptable for the audience. Rogers and Rymer [19] stated that: as a writing test, the AWA predicts students' performance in only one mode of writing required by MBA studies, and it is of little relevance to management writing in the workplace. Overall, we find the AWA to be a limited academic writing assessment that will meet only some of the expectations of management educators (p. 1). Employers chronicle that the most important quality pursued of potential hires is written communications skills [5]. The GMAC Corporate Recruiters Survey of 2011 indicates strong communication skills (86%) as employer s most desired skills of MBA students [19]. Government staff ranked written communication skills as new employees' top deficiency [23] Also, a most recent inquiry to a small company in southern Illinois responding to a quick survey regarding employer expectations indicated most applicants grammar is horrible most of the time (personal communication, June, 2011). Thus, educators themselves struggle with what is important for students to use as a medium in which to communicate. Facebook, Twitter, LinkIn and other trendy communication venues allow any sort of communication style to proliferate whether it lacks in critical elements of quality writing that qualify the written portion as clear, concise and complete. Popular social mediums have weakened the importance of quality writing skills. Facebook in particular invites informality [24] and allows carelessness to prevail over meaningful communication. Worthy of note, Facebook has become a necessary communication medium, sanctioning Facebook literacy as a necessary skill [4]. Regardless of the written communication medium, MBA graduates are not the only graduates to be thrust into the workplace with insufficient written communications skills; some newly hired botanists, biologists, and ecologists in the US Forest Service need to improve their written communications skills to a minimal level [23]. METHODOLOGY The researchers examined the relationship between GMAT analytical writing scores and graduate GPA. The study was conducted at an Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accredited midsize university (approximately 8,000 enrolled) in the southeastern United States. All students that graduated within a three-year period were included in the study. RESULTS Presented in Table 1, with respect to Graduate GPA, undergraduate GPA, GMAT all, GMAT verbal and GMAT quantitative, are the means, standard deviations and number of students.

4 Table 1 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS Mean Std. Deviation N GRAD GPA UG GPA GMAT ALL GMAT VERBAL GMAT QUANT GMAT WRITING Results (Table 2) indicate a statistically significant positive correlation between GMAT writing score and graduate GPA. Though not a strong indication of causality, results of this study indicate that the GMAT AWA may be a very important and critical tool to help determine MBA student success. Table 2 GMAT WRITING AWA CORRELATIONS Grad Gpa Ug Gpa Gmat All Gmat Verbal Gmat Quant Pearson Correlation.399**.232*.240*.584** -.331* Sig. (2-tailed) N **Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). *Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). The researchers of this study also report Pearson correlation results examining the relationships of GMAT writing score with other measures (GMAT verbal score, GMAT quantitative score, undergraduate GPA) that are purported to predict business graduate student success. Note that, while GMAT AWA demonstrates a statistically significant (0.05 or better) positive correlation with undergraduate GPA, as expected, the correlation exhibited with GMAT QUANT is actually negative (significant.001). Though intuitive that students who have strong quantitative skills may not necessarily have equally strong writing skills, this result was not expected. Generally, research suggests that both measures predict graduate school success. The results of the study lend support to the Hill et al. [13] study in which writing skills of the GMAT AWA, critical thinking and final grades on a graduate managerial communication course are significantly correlated with achievement. As discussed earlier, the ability to express knowledge through written communication may indeed determine success of MBA students. Though not a strong indication of causality, results of the correlations exhibited in this study indicate that the GMAT AWA may be a very important and critical tool to help determine MBA student success. LIMITATIONS This study was the first examination of data. Limitations include the fact that this is only one sample of successful graduates. Because the sample size was purposive and small (n = 90), the population cannot necessarily be extrapolated to the whole nor can causation be inferred from the correlation analysis. Demographics were not specific as to gender, age, ethnicity, and/or GPA. Also, the nature of the undergraduate degree, work experience, and length of time since previous coursework were not taken into consideration.

5 IMPLICATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH For the sample group to be more representative and to be able to generalize the findings of this research study, the sample can be expanded. Though not a strong indication of causality, these correlation results do lend support to theory suggesting GMAT analytical writing scores are an indicator of graduate student success. Future research could extend this study by examining the possible causal relationship between the writing score and student success. REFERENCES [1] Cahalan-Laitusis, C. (2003). Accommodations on high stakes writing tests for students with disabilities. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service. Retrieved from [2] Damast, A. (2009, July 24). GRE v. GMAT: Battle of the b-school gatekeepers. BusinessWeek Online. [3] Danko, J. M. (2009, October 16). GMAT vs. GRE: A new question for business schools. Chronicle of Higher Education, 56(8). [4] Decarie, C. (2010, December). Facebook: Challenges and opportunities for business communication students. Business Communication Quarterly, 450, doi: / [5] Dykstra, D. E., (2008, September). Integrating critical thinking and memorandum writing into course curriculum using the internet as a research tool. College Student Journal, 42(3), [6] Feldman, D. C. (2005). The food s no good and they don t give us enough: Reflections on Mintzberg s critique of MBA education. Academy of Management Learning & Education,4(2), [7] GMAT (180) Test (2010, December 31), para. 1. Retrieved from [8] GMAT Information Bulletin (2011, January 1). Retrieved from [9] Graduate Management News (2010, July). GMAT integrative reasoning section to debut in June Retrieved from July/GMAT-Integrated-Reasoning-Section-to-Debut-in-June-2012.htm?Page=2 [10] Gregg, N., Coleman, C., Davis, M., & Chalk, J. C. (2007, July/August). Timed essay writing: Implications for high-stakes tests. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 40(4), [11] Gropper, D. M. (2007). Does the GMAT matter for executive MBA students? Some empirical evidence. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 6(2), [12] Guffey, M. E. (2010). Essentials of Business Communication. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. [13] Hill, K. L., Hynes, G., E., Joyce, M. P., & Green, J. S. (2011, April 22). GMAT-AWA Score as a predictor of success in a managerial communication course. Business Communication Quarterly, 74, [14] Knight, M. (1999). Management communication in US MBA program: The state of the art. Business Communication Quarterly, 62(4), 9-32.

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