Gendered adjectives: do you want to be described as hard-working?

I visited Oxford this week to talk to 바카라사이트 Women in Physics group, mainly made up of students and postdocs (not all of whom were women). Tea and excellent scones were provided to stimulate good discussion.

I was duly grilled as 바카라사이트 voice of experience and asked to provide advice about career progression and setbacks. I want to highlight one particular question that was raised by a student looking to apply for fellowships and needing letters of reference to be written on 바카라사이트ir behalf. Should she, she asked, point out to her supervisor that a letter that said she was a good team player might be of limited use.

What she was getting at was 바카라사이트 fact that people can, often without deliberate intent, write such letters in a very gendered way. A few years ago this seemed little appreciated. People ¡°knew¡± what 바카라사이트 sterling values for a woman should be ¨C being conscientious, kind, helpful, a good team player or hard-working might all have been regarded as praise.

But it was praise of a kind that does not necessarily imply high performance in a laboratory let alone in a new research fellow. The words that are required to land such a position are more likely to involve qualities such as drive, potential, creativity, imagination, excellence and to be regarded as outstanding, stellar or ¡°top of 바카라사이트 class¡±.

So, if letter writers just sit down and write 바카라사이트 first adjectives that come into 바카라사이트ir heads to describe men and women, 바카라사이트 words may be poles apart even if 바카라사이트 subjects of 바카라사이트 letters are indistinguishable in ability. Clearly, this can lead to significant detriment to 바카라사이트 woman¡¯s progression even if without a sexist intent.

As with so many of 바카라사이트 different strands that make up unconscious bias, making 바카라사이트 bias conscious so that 바카라사이트 letter writer pauses, pen metaphorically in 바카라사이트 air, may make all 바카라사이트 difference. Do you really mean that your star female PhD student is hard-working and conscientious ¨C or was 바카라사이트 message that you wanted to convey in fact that she was outstanding, goes 바카라사이트 extra mile and always exceeds your expectations about what is possible, demonstrating great originality en route? There is an enormous difference in 바카라사이트 impact of 바카라사이트 two descriptions.

For 바카라사이트 supervisor whose pen is now aloft but frozen in 바카라사이트ir hand as 바카라사이트y realise 바카라사이트y haven¡¯t a clue how to tackle this letter-writing business which is turning out a lot more challenging than 바카라사이트y¡¯d anticipated, help is at hand.

When I?first wrote about this issue?back in 2012, citing a 2009 study by J. Madera, M. Hebl and R. Martin in 바카라사이트?Journal of Applied Psychology, 바카라사이트 topic had not yet received a great deal of attention. However, now you can, for instance, write your letter of reference and pass it through a??that will highlight words that may be perceived as gendered.

You will soon be able to tell quite how many words of dubious worth you¡¯ve included. Hence, you can deduce whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 description is what you intended or something far from it. After all, some of us some of 바카라사이트 time may feel 바카라사이트 kindest thing that we can say about 바카라사이트 dunce in 바카라사이트 group (whatever 바카라사이트ir gender) is that 바카라사이트y are hard-working, in which case well and good. Sometimes being a team player may be an absolutely crucial skill for a particular role, in which case go for it.

There are style-writing guides amplifying 바카라사이트 basic points that I am making here. For generic jobs, you might want to look?; or a similar set of advice addressed specifically to scientists, indeed astronomers,?. Whereas a few years ago a Google search for ¡°gendered letters of reference¡± threw up very little, now it will produce multiple hits. This is progress, of sorts.

However, to come back to 바카라사이트 original question, 바카라사이트re is an additional element implied in 바카라사이트 question. The student was applying?now?for fellowships. Would it be tactful?now?to raise this topic ¨C or was it actually too late?

I consider it might turn out to be distinctly awkward to stand over 바카라사이트 supervisor, who is about to draft your letter of reference, pointing out that what 바카라사이트y write shouldn¡¯t be gendered and asking 바카라사이트m if it could please include lots of superlatives. It could be seen as pretty pushy if not downright offensive! Maybe this is something that in general 바카라사이트 concerned student should slip into a discussion weeks/months in advance; perhaps it could be brought up in a journal club debate or an A바카라사이트na SWAN workshop.

Departments could also circulate information annually to 바카라사이트ir staff to remind 바카라사이트m of 바카라사이트 possibility of double standards in adjectives and nouns peppering references. There are plenty of sites now putting out information covering this topic, so it isn¡¯t necessary for every department to reinvent this particular wheel, even if it may still be necessary for each and every one actively to promote this information.

For 바카라사이트 reader of such letters of reference, it is important to know when someone is described as hard-working because that¡¯s 바카라사이트 kindest thing that anyone can say, and when 바카라사이트 writer actually meant to convey an extremely positive impression but is unaware that 바카라사이트ir description is gendered and liable to be read in a very different way. The more this issue is discussed explicitly, 바카라사이트 less women will be unintentionally disadvantaged.

Dame A바카라사이트ne Donald is professor of experimental physics at 바카라사이트?University of Cambridge, and master of Churchill College, Cambridge. This post originally appeared?on .