2 ms·

how does it work with gender/race? If your white co-worker likes a candidate, it is because of his gender, race or actual competence?

ALittleLight 4y ago
I have been a part of something like 150 interview loops. In that time I think I've interviewed exactly 1 white woman. In her case, everyone but a single person was in favor of hiring, and that one holdout was adamantly opposed (and eventually won). The person against hiring never said "I hate her because she's a white woman" but instead had reasonable sounding issues. Given that "white woman" is such a rare category to interview, and, I assume, Dalit is pretty rare as well, AND I don't even regularly interview with the same set of people - how could I possibly tell when another interviewer is motivated by prejudice? Unless the interviewer says they are motivated by prejudice I'm either going to have to give them the benefit of the doubt or make a heckuva leap to accuse them of something.
Avicebron 4y ago
I think in part because there is direct legislature that makes certain hiring practices illegal and cause for retaliation (obviously this is fraught with problems in proving intent like everything, but if I'm from a particular ethnicity and I have a track record of dismissing candidates that are able to be isolated down to a protected trait rather than ability to do the job, then I can see that as being relatively obvious.) but Like i said it's fraught with external factors, but as far as I know a caste isn't considered a protected class (probably because it doesn't have strict parallels in the West).
SpicyLemonZest 4y ago
I'm familiar with the broader social context of gender and race in the US. So when I see, for example, a coworker who consistently argues that female candidates are too aggressive, I can gently prod the discussion towards focusing on his technical feedback and deferring to the other interviewers for soft skills. With caste discrimination, I have absolutely no idea what the equivalent would be, and it'd surely be inappropriate to corner one of my Indian coworkers in the break room and ask her to teach me all the common Dalit stereotypes.

ALittleLight 4y ago

I have been a part of something like 150 interview loops. In that time I think I've interviewed exactly 1 white woman. In her case, everyone but a single person was in favor of hiring, and that one holdout was adamantly opposed (and eventually won). The person against hiring never said "I hate her because she's a white woman" but instead had reasonable sounding issues. Given that "white woman" is such a rare category to interview, and, I assume, Dalit is pretty rare as well, AND I don't even regularly interview with the same set of people - how could I possibly tell when another interviewer is motivated by prejudice? Unless the interviewer says they are motivated by prejudice I'm either going to have to give them the benefit of the doubt or make a heckuva leap to accuse them of something.

Avicebron 4y ago

I think in part because there is direct legislature that makes certain hiring practices illegal and cause for retaliation (obviously this is fraught with problems in proving intent like everything, but if I'm from a particular ethnicity and I have a track record of dismissing candidates that are able to be isolated down to a protected trait rather than ability to do the job, then I can see that as being relatively obvious.) but Like i said it's fraught with external factors, but as far as I know a caste isn't considered a protected class (probably because it doesn't have strict parallels in the West).

SpicyLemonZest 4y ago

I'm familiar with the broader social context of gender and race in the US. So when I see, for example, a coworker who consistently argues that female candidates are too aggressive, I can gently prod the discussion towards focusing on his technical feedback and deferring to the other interviewers for soft skills. With caste discrimination, I have absolutely no idea what the equivalent would be, and it'd surely be inappropriate to corner one of my Indian coworkers in the break room and ask her to teach me all the common Dalit stereotypes.