Letters of Recommendation : Best Practices

« Have you wondered if the letter you are READING- or the letters you are WRITING – are inadvertently perpetuating implicit biases that could reduce the likelihood of the candidate getting a fair chance at the new opportunity? »

so begins the “Gender Bias Calculator: Letters of Recommendation” page published by the ADVANCE group (Advancing Women in Science & Engineering At LEHIGH University).

A letter of recommendation for an academic position or promotion is a key element in assessing the candidate’s potential to excel in a new position. To be useful, it must be written with care and attention to detail. A letter of recommendation must :

• focus on the candidate
• describe the candidate’s background
• evaluate his/her achievements
• present personal information only insofar as it supports the evaluation arguments for the position applied for.

Letters may be biased in systematically racial or gendered ways, and it is important to choose your words carefully. So let’s be careful about :

• descriptive words that may be used differently in evaluating members of different social groups
• descriptive phrases can unintentionally influence a reader

A “Best Practices for Reading and Writing Letters of Recommendation” sheet is available to help us make progress in this essential stage of the application process.