Guidelines for letter review

Reviewer checklist

This is a checklist that all reviewers will go through when they receive a letter.

  1. Run the text through the gender bias calculator to obtain an initial percentage of male- and female-associated words.
  2. Check for typos and grammar.
  3. Provide replacement possibilities for descriptive words in letters that are highly male-biased or female-biased given the context of their use.
  4. Consider the context of words and phrases that may change their stereotypical associations. For example, "solar wind-driven processes"; while "driven" is a masculine coded word, in this example it is describing the science process instead of the applicant.
  5. Look for examples that have stereotypical associations or could be replaced with a different example with more positive associations. For instance, "managed group meetings" vs "led research meetings".
  6. Consider the letter formatting, looking out for things like excessive blank space, unprofessional fonts, and size of signature.
  7. Obtain a final percentage of male- and female-associated words with the gender bias calculator.
  8. Allow 5-10 business days for a response.

Types of Biases

Common unconscious biases that appear in recommendation and nomination letters are:

Back to Contact