Dr. Scott Mirabile: Writing Anti-Racist & Equitable Letters of Recommendation

During this session Prof. Mirabile highlighted the considerable overlap between the characteristics and practices of academic culture and and those of white supremacy and asked participants to reflect on how our positionality shapes our evaluation processes. We also carefully considered the language we used, what it might subtly convey, what our students or colleagues may or may not wish us to disclose about their identities, and best practices for equity in recommendation writing, which is an oft-overlooked and under-considered part of our faculty and mentoring duties.

Some suggestions from Prof. Mirabile's conference session included:

- Ask your student how they identify professionally and what identities they are choosing to disclose in this context.

- Beware of focusing on effort over achievement (in the use of terms like "highly motivated," for example) - in particular, emphasize how achievement in spite of systematic barriers demonstrates additional value rather than rationalizing any perceived weakness.

- Avoid comparisons to arbitrary rankings and standards.

For more suggestions for anti-racist and equitable letter-writing and for a curated list of further resources on the topic see his handout from the session below - click the top left button to open in a new page and get the full document with references or download here.