A letter of recommendation can catapult a woman into the next phase of the interview process for a particular job--or land her in the slush pile. Word choice in describing this female candidate can make or break her career. Letters of recommendation--especially when a reference's word choice paints a negative, less than stellar picture of the candidate. Qualities mentioned in recommendation letters for women differ sharply from those used for men, and those differences are costing women jobs and promotions in academia, medicine, and certain facets of the business community. In everyday life, the words nurturing, inclusive, helpful, affectionate, kind, sympathetic, tactful, and agreeable are quite positive; however, they are known as "communal" (social or emotive) words and have historically, stereotypically described women and feminine characteristics. A study analyzing more than 600 letters of recommendation for 194 applicants for eight junior faculty positions at a U.S. university has found that communal is not valued in academia. The study also showed that gender differences in letters affect judgments of "hireability."