Dennis E Reidy, Leila Wood
The mental health of undergraduate women majoring in STEM
Journal of American college health : J of ACH
letters recommendation lor integral component physical therapy residency applications identifying influence applicant writer gender lor help identify whether potential implicit gender bias exists physical therapy residency application processes several medical surgical residency education programs reported positive neutral negative lor female gender bias among applicants writers little research exists gender differences lor physical therapy education programs physical therapy residency programs seven hundred sixtyeight lor analyzed 256 applications 3 physical therapy residency programs neurologic orthopaedic sports one institution 2014 2020 thematic categories developed identify themes sample lor associations writer applicant gender analyzed using summary statistics word counts thematic psycholinguistic extraction rulebased deep learning natural language processing significant difference lor word counts found based writer applicant gender increased word counts seen sports residency lor compared orthopaedic residency thematic analysis showed lor gender differences male applicants receiving positive generalized recommendations female applicants receiving comments regarding interpersonal relationship skills thematic psycholinguistic gender differences seen lor writer male applicants 19 times likely select male lor writers whereas female applicants 21 times likely choose female lor writers gender differences lors physical therapy residencies found using comprehensive natural language processing approach identified positive recommendation male applicant gender bias positive interpersonal relationship skill female applicant gender bias applicants harmed helped selecting lor writers opposite gender admissions committees lor writers mindful potential implicit gender biases lor submitted physical therapy residency programs