Feature Spotlight: Reviewer Blinding

With our new Review Groups functionality, blinding information from reviewers has never been easier, and we recommend doing so broadly and often. Here’s how and why you should do it:

Why blind information from reviewers?

There are three main reasons for reviewer blinding:

1. 1.    It keeps reviewers focused on the responses and information that really matter. Blinding application responses that aren’t essential to an award decision is a great way to save time and keep reviewers on task. Many reviewers are only occasional AwardSpring users, so limiting the information they need to process can simplify their experience, eliminate possible sources of confusion, and set them up for the most success.
2. 2.    It protects sensitive student information. It’s rare for a reviewer to truly need to know an applicant’s demographic or personal information, so we strongly recommend blinding this information whenever possible to maintain student privacy.
3. 3.    It eliminates bias. Basic information such as a student’s name can also signal gender, ethnicity, and age. And studies have shown that revealing an individual’s name can result in bias that impacts hiring, housing, and bidding decisions. While scholarship reviews are ultimately subjective, eliminating as much bias as possible can bring more objectivity to the process.

How can I blind applicant responses?

If you have Review Groups set up, you can blind different information for each of your groups. Simply go to the Blinding tab for a given group and check the box to blind applicant name and email only, or select application questions from the dropdown list to blind individual questions. Repeat this process for each of your Review Groups to ensure that each group only has access to the information that’s truly necessary to make an award decision.