Psychometrics · Talent Assessment · AI Evaluation
I help organisations build smarter, fairer systems for measuring and understanding human performance — through rigorous research and practice.
Clients
HSBC·Royal College of Psychiatrists·Royal College of Physicians·University of Dundee·University of Glasgow·Elsevier·National Foundation for Educational Research·Work Psychology Group·Aston University·Communication Labs·Shared Services Connected Ltd
What I do
Psychometric assessment design and validation. I build the measurement frameworks behind high-stakes selection, licensing, and development decisions, designed to hold up under scientific and regulatory scrutiny.
AI evaluation and measurement frameworks. I apply established psychometric methodology to a problem AI companies are only beginning to recognise: how human judgment is calibrated, validated, and made defensible at scale.
DEI and organisational research. I design and evaluate diversity and inclusion interventions focused on measurable return on investment — covering expectation-setting, narrative design, psychological empowerment, and manager calibration rather than standard awareness training alone. This work is currently being presented at SIBR 2026.
Advisory and board-level consultancy. I sit on assessment and product advisory boards where psychometric expertise needs a seat at the table, not just a report after the fact.
What clients say
“Dr Adrian brought the specialist expertise we needed to meet the rigorous regulatory requirements of American Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) programmes… The assessment is now being delivered to thousands of American PharmD students, and it has become a core part of how institutions demonstrate developmental progress.”Communication Labs, UK
“Dr Adrian joined the project at a critical stage and brought real clarity and rigour to the analysis and interpretation of our national psychotherapy training survey… The work significantly strengthened the credibility and usefulness of the survey outcomes.”Royal College of Psychiatrists, UK
“Dr Adrian brought senior-level DEI advisory expertise and clear thought leadership to this work… His ability to translate complex data into clear, evidence-based insights and a practical, prioritised action plan ensured the work moved beyond diagnosis to meaningful action.”Triple C Advisory, South Africa
Current focus
My current work centres on a problem I don’t think has been named properly yet: AI evaluation is a psychometric problem, not just a technical one. Training a model on inconsistent human judgment produces an inconsistent model.
I’m publishing on this, presenting it at international conferences in 2026, and advising organisations directly on how to apply measurement science to AI training and evaluation.
Background
I hold a PhD in Psychometrics and an MSc in Occupational Psychology, and I’m a Chartered Business Psychologist. Over more than two decades I’ve worked across banking, healthcare, government, and education, building a career that moves between academic rigour and commercial practice. A fuller history is on my LinkedIn.
Peer-reviewed publications
Scoring method of a Situational Judgment Test: influence on internal consistency reliability, adverse impact and correlation with personality
De Leng WE, Stegers-Jager KM, Husbands A, Dowell JS, Born MPh, Themmen APN — Advances in Health Sciences Education, 21(5) (2016)
Evaluating the validity of an integrity-based situational judgement test for medical school admissions
Husbands A, Rodgerson M, Dowell J, Patterson F — BMC Medical Education, 15, 144 (2015)
A checklist that enhances the provision of education during insulin initiation simulation: a randomized controlled trial
Taylor C, Bynoe K, Worme A, Hambleton I, Atherley A, Husbands A, Unwin N — Diabetic Medicine, 32 (2015)
Predictive validity of the UK Clinical Aptitude Test in the final years of medical school: a prospective cohort study
Husbands A, Mathieson A, Dowell J, Cleland J, MacKenzie R — BMC Medical Education, 14, 88 (2014)
The fairness, predictive validity and acceptability of Multiple Mini Interview in an internationally diverse student population — a mixed methods study
Kelly E, Dowell J, Husbands A, Newell J, O’Flynn S, Kropmans T, Dunne FP, Murphy A — BMC Medical Education, 14, 267 (2014)
Medical Student Selection: Can Multiple Mini Interviews work in an Irish setting?
Kelly M, Dowell J, Husbands A, Kropmans T, Jackson A, Dunne F, Flynn S, Newell J, Murphy A — Irish Medical Journal, 108 (2014)
Predictive validity of the Dundee Multiple Mini-Interview
Husbands A, Dowell J — Medical Education, 47(7), 717–725 (2013)
Is embellishing UCAS personal statements accepted practice in applications to medicine and dentistry?
Kumwenda B, Dowell J, Husbands A — Medical Teacher, 35(7), 599–603 (2013)
The Multiple Mini-Interview in the UK Context: Three Years of Experience at Dundee
Dowell J, Lynch B, Till H, Kumwenda B, Husbands A — Medical Teacher, 34(4), 297–304 (2012)
Talks & presentations
Invited keynotes & guest lectures (16)
The DEI ROI Problem: Why Diversity Initiatives Underperform and How an Interdisciplinary Reality-Based Framework Can Fix Them
SIBR Annual Conference — Osaka, Japan (2026)
Using Situational Judgement Tests as a Standard 3 Progress Test and Teaching Tool
AACP Annual Meeting — Aurora, Colorado (2023) · with J. Arnoldi
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion: Strategies for Deep Change
Martinelli Advogados — São Paulo, Brazil (2023)
Elaborating on the Moral Reasoning Problem within Medical Education
Elsevier ClinicalKey Student — remote (2021)
Important Considerations When Developing Robust Situational Judgement Tests
Elsevier ClinicalKey Student — remote (2021)
Deconstructing Multiple Sources of Racial Bias in Selection Assessments
Elsevier ClinicalKey Student — remote (2021)
Contemporary Issues in Non-Cognitive Testing
NFER — Slough (2019)
Non-cognitive Testing: An Overview
NFER — Slough (2018)
Psychometrics, Discrimination, and History: Assessing Assumptions
Plymouth University (2016)
Undergraduate Selection into UK Medical Schools using Multiple Mini-Interviews and Situational Judgement Tests
University of Basel, Switzerland (2016)
Medical Schools and their Assessments: A UK Perspective
Ross University Medical School — Dominica (2016)
Best Practice in Healthcare Education Assessment
University of the West Indies — Cave Hill, Barbados (2016)
Subgroup Differences and Test Bias in UK Selection: A Wide Perspective
Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands (2015)
Validating an Integrity-focused Situational Judgement Test for Pre-Interview Selection into Medical School
Work Psychology Group — Derby (2014)
Assessing Personal Qualities in Admissions: Dundee’s Experience
Northern Admissions Network Medical Schools meeting — University of Nottingham (2014)
Peer-reviewed conference presentations (20)
Examining Gender Bias within the Multiple Mini Interview Using Multi-Faceted Rasch Modelling
Exeter Assessment Conference — plenary (2016)
Investigating Bias in the Multiple Mini-Interview
Ottawa Conference — Perth, Australia (2016) · with J. Dowell
Investigating Bias in the MRCPsych Clinical Assessment of Skills and Competencies
Sharing Good Practice in Postgraduate Medical Education Conference — London (2015)
Evaluating new standard-setting methods for the MRCPsych CASC
AMEE Conference — Milan (2014) · with K. Grewal
Evaluating new standard-setting methods for the MRCPsych CASC
Sharing Good Practice in Postgraduate Medical Education — London (2014) · with K. Grewal
Validating a Situational Judgement Test for medical school admissions
Ottawa Conference — Ottawa, Canada (2014) · with J. Dowell and F. Patterson
How to write a Multiple Mini Interview station
AMEE Conference — Prague (2013) · with J. Dowell
The Performance of MMIs in the UK Context: Four Years of Experience at Dundee
ASME Conference — Edinburgh (2013) · with J. Dowell
Investigating the acceptability of Multiple-Mini Interviews at the University of Dundee
ASME Conference — Edinburgh (2013) · with M. Rodgerson and J. Dowell
Dundee’s MMI Research: What do we know so far?
Medical and Dental Schools’ Councils Selection Day — London (2013)
Selecting medical students: Bringing some science to the art
University of Dundee 10th Annual Discovery Day (2013) · with J. Dowell
Medical Student Selection: Can Multiple Mini Interviews work in an Irish setting?
Irish Network of Medical Educators Conference — University College Dublin (2013) · with M. Kelly, J. Dowell and others
Medical Student Selection: Can Multiple Mini Interviews work in an Irish setting?
AUDGPI Conference — University of Limerick (2013) · with M. Kelly, J. Dowell and others
Improving the reliability of Multiple Mini Interviews
AMEE Conference — Lyon (2012) · with M. Aicken, M. Cupples, J. Dowell and others
‘Jon, we need more mavericks in medicine!’
Tayside Centre for General Practice Conference — Dundee (2012) · with J. Dowell
The Predictive Validity of the Dundee Multiple Mini-Interviews
AMEE Conference — Lyon (2012) · with J. Dowell
Introducing Rasch Analysis for MMIs
Scottish Medical Schools Admissions Working Group — Dundee (2011)
The Dundee MMIs: Selecting the best from the brightest
Centre for Medical Education — University of Dundee (2011)
An evaluation of the psychometric properties of student and staff-assessed Multiple Mini Interview scores
AMEE Conference — Vienna (2011) · with J. Dowell
How to select the best from the brightest
Tayside Centre for General Practice Conference — Crieff (2011) · with J. Dowell
Scientific poster sessions (2)
A Situational Judgment Test for Medical School Admissions
ASME Conference — Edinburgh (2013) · with J. Dowell and F. Patterson
The face validity of the new MRCPsych Clinical Examination
AMEE Conference — Malaga (2009)