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My problem with so-called diversity efforts is that they wildly overemphasize a really superficial attribute: skin color. That is, at best, a tenuous proxy for

My problem with so-called diversity efforts is that they wildly overemphasize a really superficial attribute: skin color. That is, at best, a tenuous proxy for actual diversity and goes against decades of work of the U.S. civil rights movement. There are real benefits to having a diverse group of people in just about every setting, but assessing the level of diversity by noting the range of skin tones present is ineffective (and should be deeply offensive to everyone involved). True diversity of thought, perspective, and experience - i.e. the things that make diversity desirable - come first from things like socioeconomic differences (that one alone may outweigh all others combined), your family experience growing up (including the nuclear family culture but broader culture in which you lived), etc. Any sort of correlation to skin color is not necessarily causal, especially when considering individual people, and yet using skin color as your diversity metric not-so-subtly suggests it /is/ causal, which, ironically, is on some level racist.

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wnolens 4y ago
It's absolutely insane to me. It's justified racism, and poorly at that. Sometimes I feel like I am living in a dystopian novel.
wizofaus 4y ago
> they wildly overemphasize a really superficial attribute That may be true in your party of the world but at least in the IT industry in mine, diversity in skin colour (*) isn't really an issue. Diversity in sex, age and physical ability levels definitely are though, and I'd like to see a much stronger push to ensure an older disabled or blind woman is given the same consideration as a younger able-bodied/sighted man, given the there's no reason the former should be any less capable of fulfilling the job requirements, but examples of are vastly underrepresented, meaning we're almost certainly missing out on hiring the most talented engineers that we can find. (*) admittedly I'm treating skin colour as just a proxy for ethnic/racial background. There's not a marked difference in skin colour between most East Asian backgrounds for instance, but within the Indian subcontinent there's a decent range. There probably still is something of an implicit bias towards lighter skin tones even given a wide range of backgrounds, and certainly those from an indigenous background are underrepresented. But that problem starts much earlier than at the point of being hired professionally as an adult.
LouisSayers 4y ago
Exactly, what we should really be striving for is diverse life experience. Having a bias towards people based on skin colour and gender alone is racist and sexist by definition. If people really cared about diversity they'd ask you about your upbringing, your views on life and how you would bring diversity into the work place. I know I've never been asked such a question during an interview...

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wnolens 4y ago

It's absolutely insane to me. It's justified racism, and poorly at that. Sometimes I feel like I am living in a dystopian novel.

wizofaus 4y ago

> they wildly overemphasize a really superficial attribute That may be true in your party of the world but at least in the IT industry in mine, diversity in skin colour (*) isn't really an issue. Diversity in sex, age and physical ability levels definitely are though, and I'd like to see a much stronger push to ensure an older disabled or blind woman is given the same consideration as a younger able-bodied/sighted man, given the there's no reason the former should be any less capable of fulfilling the job requirements, but examples of are vastly underrepresented, meaning we're almost certainly missing out on hiring the most talented engineers that we can find. (*) admittedly I'm treating skin colour as just a proxy for ethnic/racial background. There's not a marked difference in skin colour between most East Asian backgrounds for instance, but within the Indian subcontinent there's a decent range. There probably still is something of an implicit bias towards lighter skin tones even given a wide range of backgrounds, and certainly those from an indigenous background are underrepresented. But that problem starts much earlier than at the point of being hired professionally as an adult.

LouisSayers 4y ago

Exactly, what we should really be striving for is diverse life experience. Having a bias towards people based on skin colour and gender alone is racist and sexist by definition. If people really cared about diversity they'd ask you about your upbringing, your views on life and how you would bring diversity into the work place. I know I've never been asked such a question during an interview...