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> There is nothing inherently good or bad ethnic diversity. Depends on the context. For example, if your user base is diverse, it can be larger than if it wasn
by atq2119 6y ago
> There is nothing inherently good or bad ethnic diversity.
Depends on the context. For example, if your user base is diverse, it can be larger than if it wasn't - the total potential market is larger. So, diversity is profitable in that context.
Serving a diverse user base well is potentially easier with diverse staff. Remember those "Falsehoods programmers believe about X" articles? With a diverse team, chances are higher that those falsehoods are caught early, because the team covers a broader range of life experiences. So, diversity is good in that context.
How much of an impact this argument has depends on the concrete role, of course. My work tends to be very low on the overall software stack, and the notion that diversity helps seems very weak there. At the very least, I expect that diversity of thought or actual neurodiversity matters more than ethnic or gender diversity.
- AmericanChopper 6y agoI don’t think your first point is particularly relevant to the topic. If you were to continue growing a customer base forever, you’d presume that it would increasingly become more diverse forever. But the point you’re making seems to be that having more customers is good, not that having a more diverse set of customers is good. I think your second point is completely valid. Having a greater diversity of skills, perspectives, experience, ideas... on a team seems to be obviously beneficial. But that’s not at all relevant to the types of diversity HR programs aim to implement. Those programs are generally concerned with factors like ethnicity, gender, and sexuality... which are not at all related to the factors you mentioned.
- atq2119 6y agoYeah, the first point is more of a lemma that supports the second point.
- Viliam1234 6y ago> At the very least, I expect that diversity of thought or actual neurodiversity matters more than ethnic or gender diversity. The interview questions like this are usually designed to eliminate neurodiversity. I mean, how many people on autistic spectrum could successfully navigate them without triggering at least one "red flag"? (When even things like "correctly answers part of the question, forgets there was a second part" are considered red flags.)
- atq2119 6y agoThose questions are probably not intentionally designed to eliminate neurodiversity, but I agree that that's a side effect. The set of categories that diversity advocates typically care about is itself not diverse.