Inside the Black Box: Detecting and Mitigating Algorithmic Bias across Racialized Groups in College Student-Success Prediction

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Gándara, Denisa, Anahideh, Hadis, Ison, Matthew P., Picchiarini, Lorenzo
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Gándara, Denisa
Anahideh, Hadis
Ison, Matthew P.
Picchiarini, Lorenzo
author_facet Gándara, Denisa
Anahideh, Hadis
Ison, Matthew P.
Picchiarini, Lorenzo
contents Colleges and universities are increasingly turning to algorithms that predict college-student success to inform various decisions, including those related to admissions, budgeting, and student-success interventions. Because predictive algorithms rely on historical data, they capture societal injustices, including racism. In this study, we examine how the accuracy of college student success predictions differs between racialized groups, signaling algorithmic bias. We also evaluate the utility of leading bias-mitigating techniques in addressing this bias. Using nationally representative data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 and various machine learning modeling approaches, we demonstrate how models incorporating commonly used features to predict college-student success are less accurate when predicting success for racially minoritized students. Common approaches to mitigating algorithmic bias are generally ineffective at eliminating disparities in prediction outcomes and accuracy between racialized groups.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2301_03784
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Inside the Black Box: Detecting and Mitigating Algorithmic Bias across Racialized Groups in College Student-Success Prediction
Gándara, Denisa
Anahideh, Hadis
Ison, Matthew P.
Picchiarini, Lorenzo
Computers and Society
Colleges and universities are increasingly turning to algorithms that predict college-student success to inform various decisions, including those related to admissions, budgeting, and student-success interventions. Because predictive algorithms rely on historical data, they capture societal injustices, including racism. In this study, we examine how the accuracy of college student success predictions differs between racialized groups, signaling algorithmic bias. We also evaluate the utility of leading bias-mitigating techniques in addressing this bias. Using nationally representative data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 and various machine learning modeling approaches, we demonstrate how models incorporating commonly used features to predict college-student success are less accurate when predicting success for racially minoritized students. Common approaches to mitigating algorithmic bias are generally ineffective at eliminating disparities in prediction outcomes and accuracy between racialized groups.
title Inside the Black Box: Detecting and Mitigating Algorithmic Bias across Racialized Groups in College Student-Success Prediction
topic Computers and Society
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2301.03784