Recruiting a Diverse Faculty: Letters of Recommendation Scenario

Question Title

Review the following Recruitment scenario and select the correct answer based on the insight gained from the Increasing Women in Neuroscience course. This question was adapted from the Committee on Strategies and Tactics for Recruiting to Improve Diversity and Excellence (STRIDE) scenarios from the ADVANCE Program at the University of Michigan.

You notice that one of the candidates in the applicant pool whose work you think is promising has several strong letters in addition to a couple of short, unconvincing letters in her file. Based on your knowledge of her subfield and her own file, you think she is a candidate worth considering.

What can you do to ensure the candidate remains competitive among others in the applicant pool?

Early in the process, create a compelling and objective case, based on criteria listed on the evaluation form, for why this candidate is worth considering and present it to the committee. Remind the committee that letters of reference for women tend to be shorter and raise more doubt than letters for men.

Identify similar flaws in other applications to help even out the playing field.

Argue that it is necessary to include at least one woman on the short list to avoid the appearance of bias.

Reach out directly to the candidate and recommend that she remove the unconvincing letters from her portfolio.