Round-up: The myth of Nordic mobility

The most interesting articles that came to our attention this week

Converging evidence of positive selection at height-associated loci in Europe. Valentin Hivert and colleagues re-examine evidence of positive selection for height in Europe. Combining within-family GWAS designs with allele frequency estimates from 13 European populations, they detect signals of positive selection both within and between populations. The between-population signal is driven by the difference between the Dutch and other populations.

How Test Optional Policies in College Admissions Disproportionately Harm High Achieving Applicants from Disadvantaged Backgrounds. Bruce Sacerdote and colleagues examine to what extent “test optional” policies in admissions harm high-achieving students from disadvantaged backgrounds. They find that test scores are the best predictors of success in college, and under “test optional” policies, applications from disadvantaged backgrounds are much less likely to submit scores.