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But "shares your cultural background" is in large measure something we choose. Not necessarily as individuals, but as a society, in what we emphasise. Why can'

• _bxg1 8y ago
  > Why can't "American" be the right cultural background, or better yet for math nerd kids, "mathematicians who are also musicians" (common), or "mathematicians who like drawing pictures" / "hate drawing pictures" (most depts have both)? Because America consists of multiple strongly-cohesive subcultures that aren't as simple as "American", but go much deeper than hobbies. Of course there are no hard lines, but if we're being reasonable, we can see this to be generally true. It's human nature to compare yourself to those who are strongly similar to you, especially when those similarities take the form of life challenges having been faced. > Instead we choose always to emphasise fault lines, and they are proliferating. How many years until it's important to hire enough openly gay (or muslim, or trans, or atheist!) mathematicians, for exactly the same reasoning? Presumably this kind of "emphasis" will settle once things have balanced out - i.e., once diversity in a given field roughly matches diversity in the general population. In the meantime we skew our meritocracy a bit, but it should be a temporary situation.
  • iguy 8y ago
    These aren't hobbies. Number theorists and topologists have minds that work in profoundly different ways. Talented 12-year-olds will like some kinds of problems much more than others. I think a great outreach goal would be to get them rooting for one team or the other -- to give them an identity within mathematics, in other words. I'm not suggesting we can eliminate all other subcultures at the stoke of a pen. But do think they can grow or die in strength as a result of our actions. I have more sympathy for the seeing-someone-like-yourself argument when talking about aspiring pop stars (or politicians) who need to imagine themselves being on TV. But I'm dubious for mathematicians, most of whom apply to grad school because they still like solving problems, not because they imagine themselves in a job.
    • _bxg1 8y ago
      > But do think they can grow or die in strength as a result of our actions. Are you suggesting it's desirable for them to die off? America is built on its diversity of subcultures. Just because there's some tension between them right now doesn't mean they're bad. These are growing pains. > I have more sympathy for the seeing-someone-like-yourself argument when talking about aspiring pop stars (or politicians) who need to imagine themselves being on TV. But I'm dubious for mathematicians, most of whom apply to grad school because they still like solving problems, not because they imagine themselves in a job. Based on what I've heard from friends in academia, it has more in common with being an aspiring pop star than many would like to think
      • iguy 8y ago
        Die down, not die off. The melting pot is a great idea, but Balkanization is a terrible one. I worry that the drift is toward the latter. And, I'd support policies to actively discourage aspiring pop stars, of all flavors! But I do mean particularly mathematics here, who are several sigma off the middle of academia.
• locopati 8y ago
  Because pervasive racism in the US means that people still don't see native-born Latinxs or Blacks or Asians as Americans, due the same benefits (and benefits of doubt) that white people receive all the time.