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Abstract

Purpose: The underrepresentation of U.S minority groups in the physical therapy profession remains a persistent challenge, with student enrollment in U.S doctoral education programs being the main pipeline to increase representation within U.S healthcare fields. This study aims to examine the association between non-academic application questions and applicant diversity in a Doctor of Physical Therapy program. Methods: The main outcomes measured in this study include demographic and cognitive variables, as well as non-academic application questions, for a single DPT program admissions cycle. Demographic variables include race, gender, and age, while cognitive variables include GRE scores and GPA. General non-cognitive question categories include questions about applicants' attributes, such as socioeconomic status, first-generation status, and second-language proficiency. Additional questions covered previous leadership, research, healthcare experiences, and workload factors like work commitments or sports during undergraduate studies. Applicant race and responses to 16 program-specific, non-academic questions were examined using multivariate logistic regression analyses to identify associations with racial identification. All data were assessed for normality, multicollinearity, and a significance level of p < .05. Results: Minority applicants accounted for 38 of the 202 applications. Of the 38, the largest groups were Black (13), Asian (12), and Hispanic (9). The regression model was statistically significant (p < .001), explaining 28.2% of the variance in racial identification (R² = .28). Three questions were significantly associated with minority status: multilingual fluency (β = .41, p < .001), self-identification as a disadvantaged applicant (β = .24, p = .002), and course failure (β = .17, p = .012). Conclusion: These findings suggest that specific non-academic indicators related to fluency, disadvantaged students, and previous course failure may serve as meaningful predictors of applicant diversity. The results support the consideration of targeted nonacademic questions into holistic admissions frameworks to enhance diversity and inform early academic support strategies.

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