41–50 of 380 posts
They don't need to be chosen "just because" :/ they should be chosen based on merit, otherwise, how good of a role model would that person become?
>Nor were they wallflowers. what does wallflowers mean here? definition 3 ? http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wallflower
I think they meant to say that the women in question were active participants.
This is a fine and good idea, as long as the central pillar is that we remain meritocratic first, everything else should come after that.
I think I'll continue to promote people who seem to do good work, regardless of their gender. If some women lose interest in computing because they lack role models, too bad for them: there are plenty of female programmers in eastern Europe and Russia who don't seem to care.
> The best way to improve the representation of women in the field is [...] to promote them. [...] To push them into positions of influence. I am all for equality in chances for all people, men and women, black and white, gay and straight, anything really, but this affirmative action "promote X because she is a women" (or black, or XXX) is something I will fight against with all my being and all my forces until the d…
Your "strong feelings" are misguided. As a society or [sub]culture we are not judged on our efforts or philosophies but on our outcomes. And the stakes are higher proportional to the power we collectively wield. If women or other minorities are disproportionately under-represented in our communities then that fact, that outcome, deserves direct acknowledgement, attention, and recompense.
Do you support affirmative action for second-borns?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wallflower Definition 2
oh ok. What is wrong with being shy. 'none of them were wallflowers' seems like such an odd thing to say. As a shy person myself, hate this .
Do you think there are benefits to being shy in such a context?
>Nor were they wallflowers. what does wallflowers mean here? definition 3 ? http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wallflower
Like someone at a dance hall who is not asked to dance and stands at the wall when others go to the floor?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would assume that the solution wouldn't be to double down on bias hoping that bias in the opposite direction will somehow result in harmony. That's like a cable news network letting polemics on opposite sides of an issue (as if there are only to ways to look at an issue in the first place) scream at each other for a segment and then patting themselves on the back for their "balance". After all, they "presented both…
I disagree. There are a number of papers (and I'm very afraid I'm on my phone right now, so I can't cite them. I am sorry for that) which show that things like severe gender imbalance are not self-correcting systems in the case of extreme bias -- you have to push them back closer to 50/50, but then the system will remain balanced. This makes (to me) intuitive sense -- current staff / managers will tend to employ, and…
> The best way to improve the representation of women in the field is [...] to promote them. [...] To push them into positions of influence. I am all for equality in chances for all people, men and women, black and white, gay and straight, anything really, but this affirmative action "promote X because she is a women" (or black, or XXX) is something I will fight against with all my being and all my forces until the d…
Why? I mean, you took two paragraphs to write "I disagree", but you forgot the ", because".
Promoting incompetent people because they have a vagina is not a policy that will promote harmony between the genders, nor will it magically make meetings vaguely better. It will however lead to resentment and distrust amongst men, who will always wonder if their female boss got where she did by being good, or simply by being a woman.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is an interesting area sort of like affirmative action. If we don't cede some ground to the notion meritocracy, might that not delay the length of time it takes to increase diversity in the field? Will this create the best possible computing and technology world possible -- cutting out or limiting half the population? That is the point Rob is subtly making. We may have to trade a little merit now for increased d…
What is the point of diversity? You're just drawing arbitrary lines based on skin color or gender or sexual orientation. If you drew those lines somewhere else say, favorite color/food, political affiliation, mathematical abilities, etc. you'd have a completely different categorization. This is why a meritocracy is so important. There is no smaller minority group than the individual, basing outcomes on anything else…
Non-diverse environments are unmeritocratic. They drive away half of the talent.
If half of the good talent is unwelcome, and leaves, then the environment by definition isn't as good or meritocratic as it could be.