Are Femininity and Letters of Recommendation at Odds?
Topic: Gender, Selection Publication: Journal of Applied Psychology Article: Gender and Letters of Recommendation for Academia: Agentic and Communal Differences Authors: J. M. Madera, M. R. Hebl, & R. C. Martin Reviewed By: Katie Bachman To answer the question posed in the title: yes, they are. In a set of two studies, researchers have shown that women tend to be described with communal terms in letters of recommendation, while men tend to be described in agentic terms. Communal in this sense means using words like “helpful,” “kind,” and “agreeable.” Agentic refers to words like “assertive,” “confident,” and “independent.” Both sets of terms can be highly positive—we need both kinds of people—but it all goes down hill for the communal types when it comes to hireability. When people did not know the gender of the applicant, those applicants described in communal terms were deemed less hireable by subject matter experts (SMEs). Agentic terms didn’t really make a difference in the hireabi
