A linguistic comparison of letters of recommendation for male and female chemistry and biochemistry job applicants
A linguistic comparison of letters of recommendation for male and female chemistry and biochemistry job applicants
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DOI：
10.1007/s11199-007-9291-4
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发表时间：
2007-10-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.8
通讯作者：
Wysocki, Vicki H.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Schmader, Toni;Whitehead, Jessica;Wysocki, Vicki H.
推荐信是招聘过程的核心。然而，性别刻板印象可能会使求职者对女性的描述与男性求职者相比存在偏见。在目前的研究中，文本分析软件被用来检查代表235名男性和42名女性申请美国一所大型研究型大学化学或生物化学教师职位的886封推荐信。结果显示，男性和女性候选人写的信的相似性大于差异。然而，与女性候选人相比，候选人使用了更多突出的形容词来描述男性候选人。包含更多突出单词的信件也包含更多的能力词和更少的磨刀石词。需要研究语言使用的差异如何影响感知者对女性候选人的评价。
Letters of recommendation are central to the hiring process. However, gender stereotypes could bias how recommenders describe female compared to male applicants. In the current study, text analysis software was used to examine 886 letters of recommendation written on behalf of 235 male and 42 female applicants for either a chemistry or biochemistry faculty position at a large U.S. research university. Results revealed more similarities than differences in letters written for male and female candidates. However, recommenders used significantly more standout adjectives to describe male as compared to female candidates. Letters containing more standout words also included more ability words and fewer grindstone words. Research is needed to explore how differences in language use affect perceivers' evaluations of female candidates.