4 ms·

Hispanic engineer here (Salvadoran native/semitic/spanish mix, for what that matters), and I agree with the article's author in regards to socioeconomic class b

by xenihn 10y ago

Hispanic engineer here (Salvadoran native/semitic/spanish mix, for what that matters), and I agree with the article's author in regards to socioeconomic class being a much bigger factor than race when it comes to the topic of diversity. >a philosopher from Peru resembles a philosopher from Scotland more than a janitor from Peru >students think that their environment is diverse if one comes from Missouri and another from Pakistan—never mind that all of their parents are doctors or bankers Spot on. I consider any sort of initiative to disenfranchise or disempower people based on their racial/ethnic background as detrimental to society as a whole, because it (understandably) causes resentment and division. Imposter syndrome is a bad enough problem for engineers without having to take the possibility of preferential treatment that was conferred on the basis of minority status into account.

pessimizer 10y ago
> Imposter syndrome is a bad enough problem for engineers without having to take the possibility of preferential treatment that was conferred on the basis of minority status into account. This seems completely topsy-turvy to me. I would think white men would be more liable to impostor syndrome due to the general favoritism towards white men. If there were some preferential treatment in the policy that got you hired as a non-white-man that recognized you as the top of your demographic, and your demographic is still vastly underrepresented in your profession; then to feel like an impostor based on that is to internally accept that your demographic is somehow inherently inferior to the overrepresented group. The entire purpose of affirmative action to me is to dislodge the incompetent advantaged people bobbling around at the bottom of their profession, and replace them with people who are more likely not to have had a chance to reach their full potential yet.
- zem 10y ago
  > I would think white men would be more liable to impostor syndrome due to the general favoritism towards white men. favouritism towards white men is pervasive but invisible; affirmative action is rarer but highly visible, so it gets focused on more.
  - oh_sigh 10y ago
    > favouritism towards white men is pervasive but invisible Source please
  - pessimizer 10y ago
    Is it really that visible? It seems to be rare in the wild. Tokenism is far more common: noticing that there are no women, so hiring a woman, or noticing that there are no non-whites, so hiring one. What definitely has been more visible is complaints about affirmative action, because the advantaged majority were the ones complaining. As whites lose their majority in numbers (in the US), and women make professional gains, that has changed, though, which is an understandable trigger for white male rage and terror. The vast majority of the bosses are still white men, though; it's the advantage of the incumbent.
hackinthebochs 10y ago
> socioeconomic class being a much bigger factor than race when it comes to the topic of diversity. Maybe this is the case. But if there aren't enough funds to uplift everyone of the lower class, ultimately those you do help will mostly be of the dominant culture, thus indirectly perpetuating the same processes that subjugated minorities in the past. Funneling scarce resources to minority groups is acknowledging the unique factors that cased minority groups to be over-represented in the lower class.

by xenihn 10y ago

pessimizer 10y ago

> Imposter syndrome is a bad enough problem for engineers without having to take the possibility of preferential treatment that was conferred on the basis of minority status into account. This seems completely topsy-turvy to me. I would think white men would be more liable to impostor syndrome due to the general favoritism towards white men. If there were some preferential treatment in the policy that got you hired as a non-white-man that recognized you as the top of your demographic, and your demographic is still vastly underrepresented in your profession; then to feel like an impostor based on that is to internally accept that your demographic is somehow inherently inferior to the overrepresented group. The entire purpose of affirmative action to me is to dislodge the incompetent advantaged people bobbling around at the bottom of their profession, and replace them with people who are more likely not to have had a chance to reach their full potential yet.

zem 10y ago
> I would think white men would be more liable to impostor syndrome due to the general favoritism towards white men. favouritism towards white men is pervasive but invisible; affirmative action is rarer but highly visible, so it gets focused on more.
- oh_sigh 10y ago
  > favouritism towards white men is pervasive but invisible Source please
- pessimizer 10y ago
  Is it really that visible? It seems to be rare in the wild. Tokenism is far more common: noticing that there are no women, so hiring a woman, or noticing that there are no non-whites, so hiring one. What definitely has been more visible is complaints about affirmative action, because the advantaged majority were the ones complaining. As whites lose their majority in numbers (in the US), and women make professional gains, that has changed, though, which is an understandable trigger for white male rage and terror. The vast majority of the bosses are still white men, though; it's the advantage of the incumbent.

hackinthebochs 10y ago

> socioeconomic class being a much bigger factor than race when it comes to the topic of diversity. Maybe this is the case. But if there aren't enough funds to uplift everyone of the lower class, ultimately those you do help will mostly be of the dominant culture, thus indirectly perpetuating the same processes that subjugated minorities in the past. Funneling scarce resources to minority groups is acknowledging the unique factors that cased minority groups to be over-represented in the lower class.