tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post2768253242490674427..comments2024-03-19T05:33:56.516-04:00Comments on Women In Astronomy: On reverse discrimination Amanpreet Kaurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734178178113146899noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-7215657766470190672014-01-27T16:04:24.462-05:002014-01-27T16:04:24.462-05:00'Concealing the sex of a job applicant' wo...'Concealing the sex of a job applicant' would seem a great place to start:<br /><br />This article - "Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students" - shows why:<br /><br />http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/09/14/1211286109Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-53815176577794741422013-09-11T08:35:14.572-04:002013-09-11T08:35:14.572-04:00Your final paragraph touches on, but does not addr...Your final paragraph touches on, but does not address, a fundamental issue regarding equality: are we aiming for equality of opportunity, or equality of outcome? For example, if women are disproportionately influenced by society to take time to raise a family, to the detriment of their careers, should we discriminate in their favour until their career achievements match those of men? If yes, we achieve equality of outcome, but at the cost of meritocracy. If no, we can have equal opportunities, but at the cost of equal representation of both sexes in the field.<br /><br />On this issue, I'm firmly on the equality-of-opportunity side. We should make the career advancement process as non-discriminatory as possible. The proper response is to fix the underlying asymmetry: in this case, by discouraging women from taking time to raise families, or encouraging men to do so, until they match.<br /><br />This isn't to say that there isn't a place for deliberate discrimination in the employment process - but only as much as is necessary to overcome pre-existing discrimination, such as from unconscious bias. And it should be a measure of last resort, coming after more transparently fair measures such as concealing the sex of a job applicant, when such measures prove impractical.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com