Letters of recommendation for women more likely to raise doubts

Letters of recommendation written for women are more likely to contain words or phrases that raise doubts about job or education qualifications than letters written for men, according to new research.   

What the researchers say: The research included two studies about language that raise doubts in letters of recommendation. They defined “doubt-raisers” as phrases or statements that question an applicant’s aptness for a job. This language falls into three main categories: negativity (directly saying something bad), faint praise (indirect criticism of someone or something by giving a slight compliment), and hedges (cautious or vague language). Examples of doubt-raisers are statements like “the candidate has a somewhat challenging personality,” or “she might be a good leader in the future.”   The first study revealed that, on average, letters written for women were more likely to contain a doubt-raiser than letters written for men (regardless of whether a man or a woman wrote the letter). This was true for negativity, hedging, and faint praise. 

The lead author notes that doubt-raisers are not that uncommon—on average, more than half of the letters contained at least one. She also notes that such wording might weigh in on decisions in which candidates otherwise have very similar qualifications.   “Letters of recommendation are usually so positively skewed to begin with that a ‘doubt-raiser’ can stand out in a sea of positivity,” she said. “Also, recommendations are made all the time, even if they’re not in letter form. It’s so important to think about the ways language reflects subtle biases, as these spoken subtleties also may add up over time to create disparities.”   In the second study, the researchers examined whether people actually recognized and were influenced by a doubt-raiser within a recommendation letter. 

Approximately 300 university professors across the country were asked to rate one recommendation letter. Letters were manipulated to have just one of the doubt-raisers and to be written for either a man or woman; all other information contained in the letter was identical across conditions. The researchers found that the presence of any one of three doubt-raisers—negativity, faint praise or hedges—caused the professors to rate these letters negatively.   The researchers noted that doubt-raisers were considered negative regardless of whether the letter was written for a male or female.   “We would suggest avoiding these types of phrases in recommendations if you are trying to write a strong letter,” the team said, “and to be aware that they might be more likely to unintentionally slip into letters for women than men.”   

So, what? This is important research—but it’s only the start. The question, it seems to me, is not just what goes into the letters, but why do people (of both genders) writing letters recommending women feel it necessary to hedge their bets?   The obvious answer is inbuilt bias, and there may be some of that. In which case do we do the same in letters recommending minorities? I think there’s also some deeper elements in play here.  

• We are afraid of being wrong. Being wrong about a person’s ability reduces our status in our own estimation and in the eyes of the prospective employers. As previous     research has shown (see past TRs) we are generally more confident of being     “right” about a man.
• There is an inbuilt genetically-based bias which sees certain occupations as being more suitable for men and women—a legacy of our hunter-gatherer past.
• Women are seen as less “trustworthy” (see recent TRs) than men by people in authority (for example they find it harder to get loans from banks).

  What now? This will only change if we alter our behavior. And that will only happen if we are called out for using the phrases the researchers refer to by people we see as important to us. This will take time because inbuilt or genetically-based assumptions are notoriously resistant to change—especially as they normally go unnoticed because they are widely accepted.