Faculty, students should collaborate on letters of recommendation: Opinion

Faculty should collaborate with students on letters of recommendation in order to fix inequity-related challenges associated with the process, write Rebecca E Burnett, Rebekah Fitzsimmons, Courtney A Hoffman, and Patricia R Taylor. The authors recommend that faculty share an early draft of a letter of recommendation through a collaborative space so that the applicant can edit and review the final letter before its submission. The authors argue that taking this approach helps reduce power differentials, decreases the likelihood of inappropriate personal information being disclosed, and increases the accuracy of the letter while “deconstructing some of the toxic hierarchies inherent to the academic system.” Inside Higher Ed (Acct. Req.) Note: Archived stories may contain dead links or be missing source links.