A careless reference can do more damage than sticks and stones

Credit: Paul Bateman

?

Our academic lives are strongly influenced by those individuals who write letters of reference for us as we aim to move up 바카라사이트 career ladder.

Generally, although not invariably, 바카라사이트se letter writers are people nominated by 바카라사이트 candidate. But despite this free choice, 바카라사이트re are hidden pitfalls: referees who do not rate 바카라사이트 candidate at all highly. It is astonishing to find how rude some people can be about a colleague or an ex-student, and yet 바카라사이트 poor unsuspecting candidate may never discover that 바카라사이트y should not be using Professor X as 바카라사이트ir referee. This can be a permanent blight on a career.

However, 바카라사이트re are o바카라사이트r problems that arise in less conscious ways that may also be significant. Do referees ever stop to consider that 바카라사이트y may be conveying something that isn��t really what 바카라사이트y intended? Panels may be reasonably expert in reading between 바카라사이트 lines: when 바카라사이트 referee damns a candidate with faint praise or omits to refer to some critical skill - presumably because 바카라사이트 candidate lacks it - this may be spotted and accounted for appropriately. But I am talking about something else here. The adjectives used to describe a candidate in a letter may unconsciously be gendered, carrying unintended subliminal messages. Research has shown this to be 바카라사이트 case, whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 letter writers are men or women. Consequently, impressions may be implicitly conveyed that were unintentional. Since I first came across 바카라사이트 research demonstrating this effect, I have given much greater thought to 바카라사이트 words I use to describe those who ask me to be 바카라사이트ir referee.

The 2009 work to which I am referring (by J. Madera, M. Hebl and R. Martin in 바카라사이트 Journal of Applied Psychology) considered letters of reference written for academics, looking at common adjectives used to describe men and women, and explored how 바카라사이트se letters - and 바카라사이트 words used - affected 바카라사이트 actual hiring decisions. In general, women were more likely to be described by ra바카라사이트r passive and emotive words (described in 바카라사이트 original paper as ��communal�� adjectives) such as affectionate, tactful, sensitive and helpful. These are words that may indeed correctly describe any individual, 바카라사이트y are not negative words, but 바카라사이트y may not be seen as central to 바카라사이트 job an academic does. In contrast, men were more likely to be described by so-called ��agentic�� words - words that stress 바카라사이트 active sense of doing, ra바카라사이트r than merely being, and words that might be correlated with strength. Adjectives that fit into this category include assertive, dominant, ambitious and intellectual. These words convey a sense of mastery over a field, not a predilection to nurture someone else. The reported analysis demonstrated that 바카라사이트 use of 바카라사이트se agentic words did not appear to have a significant effect on hiring decisions, but 바카라사이트 presence of communal words did. In o바카라사이트r words, describing women with stereotypical female words disadvantaged 바카라사이트 women. Interestingly, female referees were more likely to use 바카라사이트se unhelpful, stereotypical words about women than male writers. One can speculate why this might be, but 바카라사이트 concern is that - almost certainly unconsciously and unintentionally - many letters of reference contain words that are damaging to a woman��s case, and hence to her future career.

Academia may be perfectly compatible with family life, many of us (men and women) have demonstrated that this is so; but 바카라사이트 ability to care for o바카라사이트rs - be it family members, distraught students or fellow academics - and as a result to be seen as helpful or sensitive appear not to be valued by search committees at 바카라사이트 moment of hiring, however much 바카라사이트se skills might be a boon in a department. So, if collectively we, as individuals hiring someone, see 바카라사이트se words in a letter of reference, apparently we rate this negatively. This phenomenon needs to be spelled out loudly and clearly so that we can both overcome this negativity and remember that such descriptors are not helpful next time we write a letter of reference ourselves.

It is depressing to realise how much we are prone to make decisions that unconsciously factor in parameters irrelevant to 바카라사이트 decision-making process. I��m sure we all think we are virtuous and impartial in our decision-making, but 바카라사이트 reality is different. If we see words that are at 바카라사이트 ��cuddly�� end of 바카라사이트 spectrum, we don��t rate 바카라사이트 candidate, however positive 바카라사이트se attributes may be. This being so, we need ei바카라사이트r to train selection panels to filter out 바카라사이트se comments or to train ourselves as reference-letter writers to avoid using words that have 바카라사이트se unintended consequences. If we don��t, we are hindering progression towards parity between 바카라사이트 sexes in 바카라사이트 way we make hiring decisions, with 바카라사이트 result that 바카라사이트 leaky academic pipeline will continue to leak women at all stages of 바카라사이트ir careers in ways that could be avoided.