This I think is a problem with the culture and education system of our society, by the time we reach the point of hiring someone the damage is already done. I

This I think is a problem with the culture and education system of our society, by the time we reach the point of hiring someone the damage is already done. I don't think it makes a hell of a lot of sense to chose someone on the grounds of what minority or oppressed group they happen to be a part of - hire the best person for the job (this shouldn't simply take into account the skills of the individual, but also how well they can be expected to integrate into the group that they are becoming a part of). We need to look into the underlying causes of the gender and race imbalances in the pool from which we are hiring. For women, this means looking at why it is that girls seem to be disuaded from interest in the fields in question. From my perspective my interest in the engineering fields emerged from being exposed to things as simple as transformers (the toys, not the modern explosion porn), while my sisters were playing with Barbies (a line of toys that I still consider vapid and pointless) I was marvelling at the fact that a few joints and pivots can be structured in such a way as to allow transition between vehicular and humanoid forms. Allowing girls to think in mathematical and engineering terms without attaching a social stigma of acting boyish will help in this regard. From the perspective of racial minorities, there is a multi-generational poverty cycle coupled with a far lower standard of education. It cuts them off at the knees before they even get started. Fix the education system and the discouraging culture in and of our society and things will balance out - eventually. But the current way of doing things is a feel good solution that deals with the symptoms - and ignores the underlying disease.