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A bit more than half of the population is women. Unless you're assuming that women are by nature less competent, narrowing to half of the population either inc

A bit more than half of the population is women. Unless you're assuming that women are by nature less competent, narrowing to half of the population either includes the best candidate or at least one infinitesimally close to the best candidate with ridiculously high probability. So what's the harm exactly? The benefit is that we actually end up with some diversity, instead of the usual old-white-guy club that most of the West defaults to in leadership positions.

hackeraccount 4y ago
Is diversity for it's own sake worth it? If they were to say - "We have a candidate with a bold new vision for the armed forces of Germany; they bring things to the table unlike anyone else - plus they're a woman." My response would be that that's great but I don't see what the plus part is bringing to the table. I'm slightly more familiar with the U.S. side of things and clearly woman get the shaft - mainly because senior positions tend to pull from areas (fighter pilots and SOF for example) where the applicability of those particular experiences to command compared to other areas is at least questionable. I think the answer to that problem is to see if the premise - running around in the boondocks leading a platoon in extremely high pressure situations or flying an F-35 off a carrier deck is relevant experience for a 4 star general or admiral - is true or if there's not equally or more relevant areas of expertise. Not - let's have people with different experiences because it's different.
- kadoban 4y ago
  > Is diversity for it's own sake worth it? Probably. Even if the decisions made are 100% the same, or at least equivalently valuable, it has benefits throughout society because it makes people everywhere feel more included, and it gives children the idea that they too can do what they want. If you're a woman or person of color or etc. and relatively _nobody_ in leadership positions has anything like your life experience, and none of them look anything like you, what does that do for either your impression of how the organization aligns with your interests, or your desire to try for a career in whatever organization? Nothing good. > If they were to say - "We have a candidate with a bold new vision for the armed forces of Germany; they bring things to the table unlike anyone else - plus they're a woman." Those are not completely unconnected things. If your baseline is 100% old white men, someone who is not in at least one of those categories is likely to have different approaches and ideas that may be worth considering. So your question is a bit problematic to answer honestly, because it explicitly assumes that the diversity of experience part is 100% divorced from the diversity of thought part.

hackeraccount 4y ago

Is diversity for it's own sake worth it? If they were to say - "We have a candidate with a bold new vision for the armed forces of Germany; they bring things to the table unlike anyone else - plus they're a woman." My response would be that that's great but I don't see what the plus part is bringing to the table. I'm slightly more familiar with the U.S. side of things and clearly woman get the shaft - mainly because senior positions tend to pull from areas (fighter pilots and SOF for example) where the applicability of those particular experiences to command compared to other areas is at least questionable. I think the answer to that problem is to see if the premise - running around in the boondocks leading a platoon in extremely high pressure situations or flying an F-35 off a carrier deck is relevant experience for a 4 star general or admiral - is true or if there's not equally or more relevant areas of expertise. Not - let's have people with different experiences because it's different.

kadoban 4y ago
> Is diversity for it's own sake worth it? Probably. Even if the decisions made are 100% the same, or at least equivalently valuable, it has benefits throughout society because it makes people everywhere feel more included, and it gives children the idea that they too can do what they want. If you're a woman or person of color or etc. and relatively _nobody_ in leadership positions has anything like your life experience, and none of them look anything like you, what does that do for either your impression of how the organization aligns with your interests, or your desire to try for a career in whatever organization? Nothing good. > If they were to say - "We have a candidate with a bold new vision for the armed forces of Germany; they bring things to the table unlike anyone else - plus they're a woman." Those are not completely unconnected things. If your baseline is 100% old white men, someone who is not in at least one of those categories is likely to have different approaches and ideas that may be worth considering. So your question is a bit problematic to answer honestly, because it explicitly assumes that the diversity of experience part is 100% divorced from the diversity of thought part.