Repost: Don’t Masculinize the Letter of Recommendation: Towards a Truly Gender-Brave Science Community

Eds note: We are in the midst of letter-writing season - for our students hoping to land a summer research or post-doc position; for our seniors hoping to go to graduate school or enter the workforce; for colleagues hoping to land a faculty or staff position; for colleagues who are deserving of honors and awards; and for others who have asked you to write them a letter. The editors of Women in Astronomy thought it would be a good ideas to re-post a gem from 2015. 

Image credit: piedmont.org

A guest blog post by Andy Elby and Ayush Gupta, both at the University of Maryland at the time of the post, offers advice on how to write letters of recommendation to advance a truly gender-brave science community. Their perspectives on current and proposed practices serve as good reminders for all of us to check our biases.

Read - or re-read - the post at

https://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2015/10/dont-masculinize-letter-of.html

Other resources:

Give women an even chance by Marcia McNutt

Inclusive and Gender-Neutral Language, National Institutes of Health Style Guide

Avoiding Bias in Recommendation Letters, Georgetown University

Letter of Recommendation for Letters of Recommendation by Neil Gehrels

Better Letters: Equitable Practices for Writing, Reading, and Soliciting Letters of Recommendation, USC

Don’t Masculinize the Letter of Recommendation: Towards a Truly Gender-Brave Science Community

The below is a guest blog post by Professors Andy Elby and Ayush Gupta.

Andy Elby is a Associate Professor of Teaching & Learning, Policy & Leadership and Affiliate Associate Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland.  His research aims to understand how students’ views about what

counts as knowledge in a given setting affects their approaches to learning and problem-solving.

Ayush Gupta is a Research Assistant Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland. He is interested in gaining a better understanding of how the human mind operates and learns. He wants to use this understanding to promote a more equitable education system and an overall scientific and rational way of thinking in society – awareness and education being the slow but steady path towards greater social justice without instability.

In a recent letter of recommendation about an ex-student applying for a competitive assistant professorship, we wrote, “It helps, too, that [Applicant] has a laid-back style and genuine humbleness…[Applicant] truly listens to other people’s perspectives.”  Was it misguided of us to include humbleness and good listening skills in our recommendation? And should the answer depend on whether Applicant is male or female?

'Tis the Season...

...for job hunting and writing recommendation letters! So I want to highlight Kelle Cruz's post at Astro Better on advice for writing good recommendation letters, particularly regarding letters written for women. The first link is about a study showing that "qualities mentioned in recommendation letters for women differ sharply from those for men, and those differences may be costing women jobs and promotions in academia and medicine." The second link is to a post by Julianne Dalcanton at Cosmic Variance, who notes that"for some reason, some fraction of letter writers insist upon doing these comparisons only within a single gender, when the applicant is a woman." I should also note that both male and female letter writers are guilty of these things, so all letter writers should pay heed!

The 217th AAS Meeting in Seattle is fast approaching! Some sessions to pay attention to:

• Monday Poster session 145: Career Paths, Professional Development, and STEM Diversity
  
• Monday 10:00 AM Special Session 110: Strategies for Addressing Harassment and Prejudice. Room 4C-4
  
• Monday 12:45 PM CSWA Town Hall: What Can Men Do to Help Women Succeed in Astronomy Ballroom 6A
  
• Tuesday 10:00 AM Special Session 208: Two-Body Issues: Balancing Work and Life. Room 608
  
• Thursday 11:40 AM Plenary Session: Addressing Unconscious Bias: Steps toward an Inclusive Scientific Culture, Abigail Stewart. Ballroom 6AB
  

Happy Holidays, whatever your traditions might be!