Astronomy
Summer is officially over, classes are back in session, and temperatures are (finally!) starting to cool off. Which means it's job hunting season!
This year, I'm going to be on the other side of the job hunting process. And from this perspective, I thought it would be useful to post a reminder to letter-writers and letter-readers about letters about women candidates.
This article is a couple of years old, but the message is still valid. (And as with most online articles exposing gender bias, it does not pay to delve into the comment section.) The upshot is that in an analysis of hundreds of letters of recommendation, "Female candidates were described in more communal (social or emotive) terms and male candidates in more agentic (active or assertive) terms." Moreover, "The more communal characteristics mentioned, the lower the evaluation of the candidate." In addition, "letter writers included more doubt raisers when recommending women, using phrases such as 'She might make an excellent leader' versus what they used for male candidates, 'He is already an established leader.'"
So, if you are writing letters for women, be aware of the language you use. And if you are reading letters for women candidates, look out for the language used to describe her and avoid letting it color your judgement. Rather, look at more objective criteria, such as publications and experience.
Happy hunting!
- Faculty Search Committee Ii
Last month?s post on Unconscious Bias focused on the formation and initial job of the faculty search committee. Once the applications are in, however, the committee?s job continues. What typically happens next? (1) search committee picks the ?best? candidates;...
- Advice To Search Committees
September marks the beginning of the academic year in most universities, and soon the cycle of postdoc and faculty recruitment will start. Search committees will be formed, candidates recruited, short lists formed, candidates interviewed, and hiring...
- Aaswomen For September 14, 2012
AAS Committee on the Status of Women Issue of September 14, 2012 eds. Caroline Simpson, Michele Montgomery, Daryl Haggard, and Nick Murphy This week's issues: 1. Recommendation Letters2. Permanent Jobs Elusive for Recent PhDs3. FREE Webinars from...
- Aas Prizes ? Self-nominations
You have probably realized that the deadline for nominations for AAS prizes has shifted earlier, to June 30. This means you still have a few weeks to submit nominations. Those of us who are frustrated at the continued dearth of women prize recipients...
- '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...
Astronomy
Recommendation Letters
Summer is officially over, classes are back in session, and temperatures are (finally!) starting to cool off. Which means it's job hunting season!
This year, I'm going to be on the other side of the job hunting process. And from this perspective, I thought it would be useful to post a reminder to letter-writers and letter-readers about letters about women candidates.
This article is a couple of years old, but the message is still valid. (And as with most online articles exposing gender bias, it does not pay to delve into the comment section.) The upshot is that in an analysis of hundreds of letters of recommendation, "Female candidates were described in more communal (social or emotive) terms and male candidates in more agentic (active or assertive) terms." Moreover, "The more communal characteristics mentioned, the lower the evaluation of the candidate." In addition, "letter writers included more doubt raisers when recommending women, using phrases such as 'She might make an excellent leader' versus what they used for male candidates, 'He is already an established leader.'"
So, if you are writing letters for women, be aware of the language you use. And if you are reading letters for women candidates, look out for the language used to describe her and avoid letting it color your judgement. Rather, look at more objective criteria, such as publications and experience.
Happy hunting!
- Faculty Search Committee Ii
Last month?s post on Unconscious Bias focused on the formation and initial job of the faculty search committee. Once the applications are in, however, the committee?s job continues. What typically happens next? (1) search committee picks the ?best? candidates;...
- Advice To Search Committees
September marks the beginning of the academic year in most universities, and soon the cycle of postdoc and faculty recruitment will start. Search committees will be formed, candidates recruited, short lists formed, candidates interviewed, and hiring...
- Aaswomen For September 14, 2012
AAS Committee on the Status of Women Issue of September 14, 2012 eds. Caroline Simpson, Michele Montgomery, Daryl Haggard, and Nick Murphy This week's issues: 1. Recommendation Letters2. Permanent Jobs Elusive for Recent PhDs3. FREE Webinars from...
- Aas Prizes ? Self-nominations
You have probably realized that the deadline for nominations for AAS prizes has shifted earlier, to June 30. This means you still have a few weeks to submit nominations. Those of us who are frustrated at the continued dearth of women prize recipients...
- '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...