Racial and Ethnic Bias in Letters of Recommendation and Personal Statements for Application to Otolaryngology Residency

Conclusion: Minor racial and ethnic language differences exist in both LORs and PSs. A statistically significant difference was observed among LORs, with the “teaching” term used more frequently for Asian, black, Hispanic, and white applicants compared to self-identified Other individuals. For PSs, statistically significant differences were observed among white applicants, who wrote about themselves using more “authentic” language when compared w ith Asian applicants and who also had higher scores for “tone” compared to black applicants. Although these differences were statistically significant, the practical impact of the variances is likely small.ORL
Source: ORL - Category: ENT & OMF Source Type: research