3 ms·

Both genders bring different experiences and perspectives to problem solving. Also having a mix of genders in an office in my experience leads the natural cliq

Both genders bring different experiences and perspectives to problem solving. Also having a mix of genders in an office in my experience leads the natural cliques that form in any office to be more interdependent. I'm not a sociologist or claim I can explain it but that has been my experience in working in almost purely female or male environments and working in mixed environments. Having someone in the extreme minority will always make them feel like an outsider.

yummyfajitas 16y ago
If you are problem solving in a domain where gendered perspectives are irrelevant [1], would you then agree there is little value to having diversity? As for cliques, I don't have much experience with them. Within university departments, I only observed three particular flavors of clique: domain specific (math/physics, number theory), chinese, and women. I suppose you are right - the woman clique did have women from multiple domains in it. As for being in the minority, I don't agree with you there. In all walks of my daily life, I am an extreme (racial) minority. In the past month or two, excluding family, I've had a conversation with perhaps 2-3 people of the same race as me. It isn't an issue at all - right now, I feel like less of an outsider than during past periods where I dealt with lots of people like me. [1] Examples would include every field I've ever worked in: trading stocks, medical imaging, quantum physics.
- sanswork 16y ago
  I would say getting perspectives from different people is never irrelevant. So no I would not argue against diversity even in those cases you listed. It is possible you just didn't recognize the cliques. They aren't always super obvious even when they are prevalent. I like racial minorities in the workplace are a different concern than gender minorities. Mindless discrimination based on race is very much noticed and looked down on these days. I wouldn't say its the same about gender. If all your co-workers always forgot to invite you to lunch or assumed you wouldn't want to do what they do because of your race you would be right to compare.
  - yummyfajitas 16y ago
    Now you are begging the question. How is a woman's perspective different from a man's perspective on Fourier analysis, scaling a database or technical analysis of stocks?

yummyfajitas 16y ago

If you are problem solving in a domain where gendered perspectives are irrelevant [1], would you then agree there is little value to having diversity? As for cliques, I don't have much experience with them. Within university departments, I only observed three particular flavors of clique: domain specific (math/physics, number theory), chinese, and women. I suppose you are right - the woman clique did have women from multiple domains in it. As for being in the minority, I don't agree with you there. In all walks of my daily life, I am an extreme (racial) minority. In the past month or two, excluding family, I've had a conversation with perhaps 2-3 people of the same race as me. It isn't an issue at all - right now, I feel like less of an outsider than during past periods where I dealt with lots of people like me. [1] Examples would include every field I've ever worked in: trading stocks, medical imaging, quantum physics.

sanswork 16y ago
I would say getting perspectives from different people is never irrelevant. So no I would not argue against diversity even in those cases you listed. It is possible you just didn't recognize the cliques. They aren't always super obvious even when they are prevalent. I like racial minorities in the workplace are a different concern than gender minorities. Mindless discrimination based on race is very much noticed and looked down on these days. I wouldn't say its the same about gender. If all your co-workers always forgot to invite you to lunch or assumed you wouldn't want to do what they do because of your race you would be right to compare.
- yummyfajitas 16y ago
  Now you are begging the question. How is a woman's perspective different from a man's perspective on Fourier analysis, scaling a database or technical analysis of stocks?