5 ms·
This is a great way of thinking about diversity. As a physics phd student myself I have observed this a lot -- that the students who put together a fantastic di
by topaz0 5y ago
This is a great way of thinking about diversity. As a physics phd student myself I have observed this a lot -- that the students who put together a fantastic dissertation project are often not the ones who come in with a great transcript or who sound the smartest when asking questions in class. I see that other commenters are intent on misunderstanding this, which is a shame.
Edited to add: separate from the discussion about what this means for admitting students or hiring professors, another important part of this is on the education and mentorship side. A uniform academic (or workplace) culture that rewards people who fulfill a narrow conception of merit will exclude people who have a lot to contribute, but are made to feel uncomfortable in that culture and devalued in that conception of merit.
- Jensson 5y agoSadly I have never seen a diversity initiative that tried to help creative students who weren't getting good grades, or any other way to help increase diversity of thought in physics. Taking the people of different colors with the best grades doesn't lead to the diversity you talk about, instead it seem to make the criteria we use for merit ever narrower in order to ensure fairness, so we are really going backwards.
- topaz0 5y agoI agree that DEI programs rarely take this form, but there are places where this is really the model, including in my program. Even then I would not claim that it is practiced perfectly, but it seems to do a pretty good job of emphasizing the right things.
- dubya 5y agoCould you point out your or some of the other places that have a good model for DEI? My department has been struggling with this and will be redoing their mentorship program in the near future.
- topaz0 5y agoMaybe this a good place to start: https://www.science.org/content/article/michigan-s-surprising-recipe-improving-diversity-graduate-physics https://www.science.org/content/article/michigan-s-surprisin...
- mellosouls 5y agoI see that other commenters are intent on misunderstanding this, which is a shame. Or perhaps they just disagree?
- topaz0 5y agoTo be clear, I mean to say that they are intent on misunderstanding one proposal from the talk, which is a small piece of what the talk is about. They take that one piece and make unflattering assumptions about its context -- assumptions which are explicitly addressed in the talk. If they brought evidence or experience to refute the experience of the speaker, that would be a different thing. They did not.