Just finished writing letters of recommendation for the season!

WoooT!

There are some things about my letter-writing process that I really like, and ...

... there are some really not good things about the letter-writing system in academia.

Preparing for and writing letters helps me get to know my colleagues better, and it helps us discuss their career goals.

It helps us reflect together on how they've grown and what they've accomplished during our collaboration.

It's a privilege to do what I can to help folks take their next steps toward their goals.

It can be hard to write good and helpful letters of rec, though.

1. We have to unlearn the biases (e.g., gender) in our speech and thinking.
2. We have to keep in mind how people in the academic system will be reading these letters, and what biases they bring.

There's also a huge set of problems with the whole system of letters of rec.

For example:

People who evaluate apps tend to overemphasize the importance of their direct relationship with letter-writers themselves -- instead of the content of the letter.

For example:

Some letter-writers say things that over-emphasize the cult of personality and reputation, and not how people grow and learn.

I've read things like, "<Name> is better than all these people who I list below."

Ugh, gross.

With letters of rec, these are the kind of thing that exacerbates the effects of small networks, which is one of the primary mechanisms that racism and misogyny spread through academia and segregate us.

Gendered, racist, classist language will not help the people for whom you write letters.

And it helps me understand a lot better about what kind of community member you are.

Take the time. Learn to do better than that.