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Why would blind auditions lower the average quality of female auditionees, and not male auditionees? That seems like searching for an explanation that fits a th
by leereeves 8y ago
Why would blind auditions lower the average quality of female auditionees, and not male auditionees? That seems like searching for an explanation that fits a theory.
Worse, the authors acknowledge that blind auditions were part of a larger effort to recruit more women, but fail to account for other aspects of that effort. They simply attribute the entire effect to the blind auditions. But it seems likely that orchestras that were actively trying to recruit more women (like the NYPhil, which the paper claims increased the percentage of women in the orchestra from least in the nation to most) would have hired more women with or without blind auditions.
Original paper: https://www.nber.org/papers/w5903.pdf https://www.nber.org/papers/w5903.pdf
- dx87 8y agoIt might lower the average quality of female auditionees because you'd get females that aren't good enough to play in the orchestra, but told themselves that the only reason they weren't previously selected is because they're female. Males haven't been told "the only reason you weren't selected is because you're male", so you're not going to have less skilled males auditioning who think their sex is the only reason they didn't pass previous auditions.
- d0mine 8y agoWould you explanation work for example for sprinters (where men are objectively faster)? What does it tell about the quality of the explanation?
- EForEndeavour 8y agoOrchestral skill isn't anywhere near as quantifiable as the time taken to sprint a given distance, so this comparison is irrelevant as far as I can see, though I welcome clarification. The entire point is that there is no objective measure of playing ability, which allows conscious and subconscious biases to affect audition decisions, which is why blind auditions make sense for choosing orchestra performers, but is not required (let alone practical) for choosing sprinters.
- d0mine 8y agoIt precisely the point that when we can easily measure results, it clear that the adhoc excuses in the grandparent comment are just that.
- EForEndeavour 8y agoNo, the point is that sprint times are judged by well-validated and understood instrumentation whose results are easily replicable. Conversely, the outcome of an orchestra audition is decided by human judges, and we know that humans are subject to conscious and unconscious biases that affect their ultimate decision. We can easily measure the eventual decision of the audition, but the audition process itself is much more difficult to scrutinize, unlike your example of a sprint race. That's why your original challenge to compare this audition situation to a sprint race does not apply.
- d0mine 8y agoYou've missed the point. Perhaps, I've expressed it poorly. People see what they want to see.