Implicit bias in letters of recommendation for an undergraduate research internship
Implicit bias in letters of recommendation for an undergraduate research internship
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DOI：
10.1080/0309877x.2017.1301410
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发表时间：
2018-01-01
影响因子：
2.3
通讯作者：
Lemmons, Kelly
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Houser, Chris;Lemmons, Kelly
推荐信通常被用来评估本科生成为成功的本科生研究助理/实习生的潜力或他们作为研究生的潜力。然而，有证据表明，推荐信可能包含无意识的(或隐性的)偏见，这可能会影响决策，并限制未被充分代表的少数群体和来自非研究机构的学生的机会。本研究使用文本分析软件程序对457封申请国际研究经验的本科生推荐信进行了检查，以确定被录取的学生(36个字母)与未被录取的学生(421个字母)在描述语言上是否存在统计上的显著差异。结果表明，给被录取学生的推荐信更确定地描述了学生的工作效率，并包含了更多来自学生工作的引文。相比之下，那些没有被录取的学生的信件包含了更多的积极情绪，描述了学生的洞察力，但包含了更多与差异和试探性陈述相关的词语。尽管平均绩点没有统计上的显著差异，但在男性和女性申请者、白人和非白人申请者以及研究机构和非研究机构的申请者中观察到了类似的模式。结果表明，有必要将推荐信标准化，以确保偏见最小化，并且不会对增加本科生研究的多样性构成障碍。
Letters of recommendation are commonly used to assess the potential of undergraduate students to be successful undergraduate research assistants/interns or their potential as graduate students. However, there is evidence to suggest that reference letters can include unconscious (or implicit) bias that can affect decisions and limit opportunities for under-represented minorities and students from non-research institutions. This study uses a text analysis software program to examine 457 letters of recommendation for undergraduate students applying to undertake international research experience to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference in the language used to describe the students accepted into the programme (n = 36 letters) compared to those who were not accepted (n = 421 letters). Results suggest that letters of recommendation for the accepted students describe the productivity of the students with greater certainty and include a greater number of quotes from student work. In comparison, the letters for those students who were not accepted into the programme include more positive emotion and describe the insight of the student, but include more words associated with discrepancy and tentative statements. Despite no statistically significant differences in grade point averages, a similar pattern was observed between male and female applicants, white and non-white applicants, and applicants from research and non-research institutions. Results suggest a need to standardise letters of recommendation to ensure that the biases are minimised and do not present a barrier to increasing diversity in undergraduate research.