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brilliant vs hardworker, lazy vs slow | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden)
[new] gender differences in letters of recommendation (none / 0) (#1)
by dkung on Mon Oct 24, 2005 at 07:57:13 AM PDT

Interesting post - thanks for bringing up these issues. I wouldn't say that students are actively lying about issues like these - more that different students have different attitudes and beliefs about mathematics that cause them to answer in different ways.

And your question about letters of recommendation brings up some research I read a long time ago. Even if you delete all gender references in such a letter, people can tell (with high accuracy) the gender of the person being described. Phrases like "brilliant" and "natural mathematician" go with men, and "hard-working" "diligent" go with women.

I don't recall the details of the study, but your post brings up the possibility that this isn't just due to the gender bias of the letter writers but could also be tied up with gender differences in the way students portray themselves to professors.



brilliant vs hardworker, lazy vs slow | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden)
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