Demographic Differences in Letters of Recommendation for Economics Ph.D. Students

47 Pages Posted: 10 Oct 2024

See all articles by Beverly Hirtle

Beverly Hirtle

Federal Reserve Banks - Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Anna Kovner

Federal Reserve Banks - Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: October 01, 2024

Abstract

We analyze 6,400 letters of recommendation for more than 2,200 economics and finance Ph.D. graduates from 2018 to 2021. Letter text varies significantly by field of interest, with significantly less positive and shorter letters for Macroeconomics and Finance candidates. Letters for female and Black or Hispanic job candidates are weaker in some dimensions, while letters for Asian candidates are notably less positive overall. We introduce a new measure of letter quality capturing candidates that are recommended to "top" departments. Female, Asian, and Black or Hispanic candidates are all less likely to be recommended to top academic departments, even after controlling for other letter characteristics. Finally, we examine early career outcomes and find that letter characteristics, especially a "top" recommendation have meaningful effects on initial job placements and journal publications.

Keywords: gender in economics, race and ethnicity in economics, research institutions, professional labor markets, recommendation letters

JEL Classification: A11, A23, J15, J16

Suggested Citation

Hirtle, Beverly and Kovner, Anna, Demographic Differences in Letters of Recommendation for Economics Ph.D. Students (October 01, 2024). FRB of New York Staff Report No. 1129, https://doi.org/10.59576/sr.1129, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4983063 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4983063

Beverly Hirtle (Contact Author)

Federal Reserve Banks - Federal Reserve Bank of New York ( email )

33 Liberty Street
New York, NY 10045
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Anna Kovner

Federal Reserve Banks - Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond ( email )

P.O. Box 27622
Richmond, VA 23261
United States

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