Grumpy Sociopolitical Observation

[minoanmiss]

Occasioned by recently overdosing on AAM. I really hate it how in discussions of efforts to increase diversity in hiring, committees, board members, etc, so many people explicitly or (even worse because it's harder to call out) implicitly frame it as a choice of diversity over "The best candidate". Do they not see the statement which underpins this conclusion? (to pull it from the lurking shadows: if trying to increase opportunities for diverse candidates is in opposition to getting the supposedly Best candidate, what does that say about the demographics of these supposedly universally superior candidates?)

Feh.

Comments

[lilysea]

Comparing, say

Obama
vs
Trump

or Kamala Harris/Stacey Abrams/Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
versus
Betsy DeVos/Sarah Palin

would seem to strongly suggest that the diverse candidates are often THE BEST candidates...

[dewline]

I am in agreement on this. Harris, Abrams, Ocasio-Cortez...all demonstrably of higher quality than DeVos or Palin!

[lemonsharks]

A cactus is a higher quality candidate than Betsy devos

[magid]

A dead or dying cactus is a higher quality candidate than Betsy DeVos.

[lemonsharks]

Betsy devos: less qualified for public service than a soggy cactus

[sabotabby]

Seriously. The underlying assumption there is toxic and hideous.

[rmc28]

When there was a bit of a movement for "gender parity" at SF cons, I remember one woman I know well saying "people keep worrying about there being 'token women' on panels if we aim for parity, and I have to say, I've been on a lot of panels with a lot of token men".

[lynnenne]

It’s amazing how many mediocre white men get promotions while the outstanding non-white, non-male candidates aren’t even considered for the job. I’m pretty sure I work with all of them.

[kore]

After Trumpty I don't think any conservative type gets to go "But what if Those People aren't qualified -- " ever again.

[dewline]

Of course, they're determined to keep getting away with saying - and enforcing - exactly such nonsense. Ever more wrongly and stridently than before, too!

[conuly]

The right wing, as always, is thoroughly committed to the Big Lie technique.

[hitchhiker]

yeah, it's a pretty depressing thing to see :(

[princessofgeeks]

FEH INDEED

[amaebi]

1. Absolutely. Totally.

2. It isn't even as if bestness of candidate (if that were some objective thing, which it obviously isn't) should be the goal in employment.* An employer has things they want done, and they choose to pay people to have it done**. If everything were about salable deliverables, then all they'd care about is hiring to get the work done as inexpensively as possible**. Clearly they want something from employees that isn't salable: something social.
* Very little activity employers pay for is like weightlifting or running races, whose winners are readily determined and agreed on.
** And if the set of things the employers want done isn't so easily tabulated why are they granted omniscient judgeship?

[lemonsharks]

I have something thoughtful lurking in the back of my head but for now I'll just say, "word."

I.e. the old joke

Q: What do you call the guy who ranked last in medical school, was chosen last for the shittiest residency, and exited without impressing anyone with their work?

A: Doctor

[lokifan]

100000%

[conuly]

Indeed, studies back up what really I think we all already suspected - the more diverse an organization, the more even the male:female ratio, the better the performance overall.

[cellio]

Yeah, there is so so much wrong with that framing... ugh.

I do not want to be hired because I am a woman (or minority) and they need to check a box. I also do not want to have to deal with the presumption that because I'm a woman I was only hired because (etc). I want companies to work as hard at finding good minority candidates as they do at finding white male candidates, and I want them to evaluate all candidates fairly and with an eye toward the whole team. Teams are stronger when their members don't all share the exact same perspectives. That should matter.