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Demystify the hidden curriculum of letters of recommendation

Best Practices, Resources, Teaching, Tips

Letters of recommendation are often the silent gatekeepers of opportunity. They can open doors to jobs, internships, scholarships, graduate programs, and professional schools. Yet, for many students, the process of securing a strong letter—and for faculty, writing one—remains somewhat a mystery.  

A strong letter of recommendation is essential for students’ success as they start their professional journey. While there are key principles for obtaining an impactful letter, students aren’t often taught how to do so.  

As the semester concludes, amid the excitement of graduation and commencements, many students are frantically seeking out letters of recommendation for scholarships, academic programs, job opportunities, graduate school admissions, and other professional advancement. As we navigate this busy period together, let’s support students’ success by being thoughtful and intentional in our letter writing.

How Recommendations Tell a Student’s Story

I still remember a moment in my junior year when a professor told our class, “Don’t ask me for a letter of recommendation unless you earn an A in my course.” At that time, I hadn’t looked for jobs or known what graduate school was. As a first-generation college student and an immigrant from a culture where word of mouth was the preferred method of recommendation, I didn’t know why I might need one or when I would need one. My takeaway was simple: when the time came, I would only ask professors from classes in which I had earned an A. That advice stuck with me and shaped my career—I would not be surprised if this strategy of using a single grade to tell a whole story of my intellectual promise had kept doors closed for opportunities I didn’t yet know existed. 

Too often, students like me assume (or were told) that grades alone guarantee endorsements. But a compelling letter is not a transcript in prose—it’s a narrative of character, academic contribution, and intellectual potential. Faculty members who write impactful letters weave stories that highlight academic excellence, leadership, creativity, and collaboration. These qualities rarely appear in GPA calculations but often define future success. 

Inviting Students to Share the Full Picture

Grades measure performance in a controlled environment; recommendation letters should illuminate potential in complex, real-world contexts. A strong recommendation answers the questions: What unique perspective does this student bring? How have they grown? What impact might they have on their field or community? These dimensions require faculty to look beyond the classroom and for students to share their full story. 

Students juggle various responsibilities in addition to their academic work, such as supporting family members, working jobs, and participating in community engagements, all while aiming for academic success. These stories are important. However, without proper guidance, students might not share them, and faculty may struggle to contextualize these experiences in terms of strength and resilience. It’s essential to avoid unintentionally focusing on efforts over abilities or perpetuating stereotypes about women and marginalized students by viewing their experiences through a deficit lens. Faculty can help by clearly inviting students to share relevant context, offering prompts about experiences that shaped their academic path, and framing these conversations as a normal and valued part of preparing a strong letter.

Systemic Barriers and Equity Gaps 

The hidden curriculum disproportionately affects first-generation, international, and underrepresented students. Many don’t know whom to ask for a recommendation, how to ask, or what information to provide. Meanwhile, faculty may unconsciously favor students they know well—often those with cultural capital to build relationships and seek mentorship early. This perpetuates inequities in access to opportunities.

Research indicates that women are often seen as possessing communal traits such as helpfulness and nurturing, while men are associated with agentic traits like confidence and assertiveness. project management, where roles often require leadership, coordination across teams, and visible decision-making. Despite the importance of collaboration and relationship-building in these environments, communal strengths can be unfairly interpreted as a lack of authority or strategic ability, leading to biases that hinder women’s advancement opportunities.

These same dynamics can surface in letters of recommendation, shaping how candidates are portrayed before they ever enter a hiring process. Institutions rarely train faculty to write inclusive, bias-aware letters. Faculty can help close this gap by actively reviewing their own language for communal–agentic bias, emphasizing evidence of competence and impact, and ensuring that their descriptions of students align with the expectations of the roles the students are pursuing. By approaching each letter with this level of intentionality, faculty can counteract systemic barriers rather than inadvertently reinforcing them.

Guiding Students through the Process 

To level the playing field, we must make the hidden curriculum visible. Helping students recognize their strengths and connect them to success in class and future careers is essential. Encourage students to build relationships with you and be open about requesting letters of reference, particularly for historically marginalized students who may feel hesitant. Demonstrating that you are a caring and supportive instructor fosters a safe environment in which all students can ask about jobs, research opportunities, and letter requests.

Transforming Letters of Recommendation into Tools for Equity

Given our designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and our diverse student population, it is most pressing for NIU to develop transparent guidelines and resources that normalize the process of requesting letters of reference. This initiative will involve collaboration among Faculty Affairs, the Graduate School, Professional Schools, various Departments, Centers for Teaching and Learning, faculty, and administrators. Our ultimate goal is to enhance student success at NIU.

Letters of recommendation should not be a privilege reserved for the well-connected; rather, they should serve as tools for empowerment and career advancement. By exposing this hidden curriculum, we can transform letters of recommendation from obstacles into opportunities. Faculty play a critical role in this shift by clearly communicating their expectations for letter requests, offering students structured guidance about the information they should provide, initiating early conversations about career goals, and integrating brief discussions of recommendations into courses and advising. These actions help ensure that every student—not just those with insider knowledge—has equitable access to strong, well-informed letters.

Learn More 

  • Dalal, D. K., Randall, J. G., Cheung, H. K., Gorman, B. C., Roch, S. G., & Williams, K. J. (2022). Is there bias in alternatives to standardized tests? An investigation into letters of recommendation. International Journal of Testing, 22(1), 21–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/15305058.2021.2019751  
  • Kim, B.H., Park, J.J., Lo, P. et al. Letters of Recommendation by High School Counselors in Selective College Admissions: Differences by Race and Socioeconomic Status in Letter Length and Topics Discussed. Res High Educ 66, 30 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-025-09847-5  
  • Madera, J. M., Hebl, M. R., & Martin, R. C. (2009). Gender and letters of recommendation for academia: Agentic and communal differences. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(6), 1591–1599. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016539  
  • Schmader, T., Whitehead, J., & Wysocki, V. H. (2007). A Linguistic Comparison of Letters of Recommendation for Male and Female Chemistry and Biochemistry Job Applicants. Sex Roles, 57(7-8), 509. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-007-9291-4 
  • University of Arizona Commission on the Status of Women. (2016). Avoiding gender bias in letter of reference writing. Retrieved from https://csw.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/avoiding_gender_bias_in_letter_of_reference_writing.pdf 
  • Wan, Y., Pu, G., Sun, J., Garimella, A., Chang, K.-W., & Peng, N. (2024). “Kelly is a Warm Person, Joseph is a Role Model”: Gender Biases in LLM-Generated Reference Letters. arXiv preprint arXiv:2403.12345. https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.09219
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