Gender and Job Seekers
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The current economy has kept me busy doing career coaching for people who have lost their jobs. So last week, when I heard a radio segment on letters of recommendation, I listened.

Researchers from Rice University analyzed over 600 letters of recommendation. The letters of recommendation for both women and men used positive words; however, traditionally feminine attributes such as “nurturing”, “kind” and “agreeable” were used to describe women, while agentic words such as “assertive”, “confident”, and “ambitious” were used for men.

There was no difference in the gender of the letter writer – both men and women used more traditionally feminine words when describing women than they did for men.

But here comes the most interesting part. When men and women reviewers were asked to rate the strength of the letters, the researchers found that letters with traditionally feminine words were ranked lower than letters with agentic words.

As soon as I got back to my office, I went to my LinkedIn profile and scanned the words on my recommendations. Phrases that I thought were great before, like “very accommodating” and “excellent listener”, suddenly sounded quite different to me.

My advice to my clients, and to anyone reading this post, is that you give this information to anyone who has offered to write you a letter of recommendation. Let’s keep letters of recommendation a level playing field.