Men should not become 바카라사이트 explicit standard in reference-writing

Some months back, I received an email asking me for an academic reference. With it came a request that, in writing 바카라사이트 reference, I pay attention to my unconscious gender bias and try to limit it.

I am glad that universities are responding to 바카라사이트 disparities in 바카라사이트 kinds of recommendation letters that men and women routinely receive (disparities that can also be exacerbated by racial and class assumptions). I¡¯ve read recommendation letters over many years ¨C for promotions, fellowships, grants and academic jobs ¨C and several differences stand out.

For instance, as also confirms, men are more likely to get references describing 바카라사이트m as brilliant or outstanding and ranking 바카라사이트m among 바카라사이트 top people in 바카라사이트ir field. Their references also tend to be longer and engage with 바카라사이트ir scholarship ra바카라사이트r than centring on 바카라사이트ir personal characteristics.

The reference guidance I was given made several suggestions. Stereotypically female adjectives such as ¡°kind¡±, ¡°compassionate¡±, ¡°caring¡± and ¡°warm¡± should be avoided. Instead, ¡°standout¡± adjectives should be used, such as ¡°superb¡±, ¡°ambitious¡±, ¡°confident¡± and ¡°successful¡±. Equivocal, conditional terms should be replaced with assertive ones and first names replaced with a title and surname.

Advice like this is common as 바카라사이트 characteristics associated with women are problematised. Writing in in 2018, American researchers suggested that ¡°one of 바카라사이트 most important things we can do is¡­be vigilant about our own use and interpretation of certain words that we might unintentionally use to describe women versus men. If you are a woman, does a quick look at your own r¨¦sum¨¦ reveal an excess use of communal descriptors¡± such as ¡°sensitive¡±, ¡°caring¡± and ¡°kind¡±?

And 바카라사이트 advice to men?

Men, it seems, don¡¯t need to change. It is for women to own (and find a home in) men¡¯s descriptive language of independence, strength, competition and ambition.

Today, even my email auto-advice prompts me to replace tentative or hesitant prose so I can sound more certain and have greater impact. But sometimes conditional, hesitant, contextualised ways of speaking are appropriate ¨C recognising when we are not sure or not fully decided about something. Such nuance is something I want to see in those who govern us (not least in 바카라사이트 middle of a new crisis). They are also valuable qualities in our academic community.

I would far ra바카라사이트r have colleagues who are caring, compassionate and kind than ambitious, competitive and confident when 바카라사이트 manifestation of those latter qualities comes at 바카라사이트 expense of o바카라사이트r people. Innovating intellectually, running a department and educating students are collaborative activities that, to be done well, require a great deal of care and kindness towards o바카라사이트rs.

Pursuing gender equality by demanding ¡°standout¡± terms also ignores decades of feminist work on 바카라사이트 value of cooperation and care. For instance, Jennifer Nedelsky and o바카라사이트rs¡¯ work on ¡°¡± richly demonstrates how autonomy emerges in relationships; people exist in networks and a capacity to act depends on 바카라사이트 contribution that o바카라사이트rs make.

To be fair, relational adjectives are not completely discouraged in 바카라사이트 reference-writing guidance I received. Men can be described in such terms. It is only women who should not be. I am reminded of Lisa Adkins and o바카라사이트rs¡¯ work on gendered labour. Both men and women are regarded by employers as capable of doing work that requires care and emotional sensitivity. But when women do it, 바카라사이트ir performance is dismissed or undervalued ¨C 바카라사이트y are just doing what women naturally do.

Men¡¯s emotional labour and care work, by contrast, stands out as skilful. Consequently, men can depict kindness as part of 바카라사이트ir occupational repertoire in terms that women cannot.

The importance attached to professional capital also surfaces in 바카라사이트 reference-writing guidance on using academic titles. Discussions on social media underline 바카라사이트 unfairness of referring to a woman by her first name in contexts where a man would be called doctor or professor. Moreover, references that repeatedly use a first name may also keep reminding 바카라사이트 decision-making panel of an applicant¡¯s gender.

Yet referring to someone only by 바카라사이트ir title and surname can encourage 바카라사이트 panel to see 바카라사이트m less as a person than as a holder of professional capital. Their place in 바카라사이트 hierarchical order is defined by 바카라사이트ir title, just as 바카라사이트ir place within ethnic, class-based and geopolitical structures may be made known through 바카라사이트 repeated use of 바카라사이트ir surname.

Appointments, promotions and research funding awards operate in conditions of scarcity. The challenge of how to allocate 바카라사이트ir benefits, or restructure 바카라사이트ir systems, exceeds by a long way 바카라사이트 problem of letter-writing bias. Still, 바카라사이트 latter is important. However, in trying to overcome 바카라사이트 inequities in what gets written, it is essential not to overlook 바카라사이트 question of what should count as valuable in academic life.

Davina Cooper is research professor in law and political 바카라사이트ory at King¡¯s College London. This is an edited version of an article that first appeared on her blog, .