tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post6753183393907107319..comments2024-03-25T10:22:36.277-04:00Comments on Women In Astronomy: Reverse discrimination?Amanpreet Kaurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734178178113146899noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-29476736099277299142013-12-01T09:17:50.478-05:002013-12-01T09:17:50.478-05:00@jlr
You must not be trying very hard to find evi...@jlr<br /><br />You must not be trying very hard to find evidence. A case could indeed be made that there is a reverse hiring bias. Female assistant profs are overrepresented compared to the number of female PhD recipients.<br /><br />http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/reports/womeninphysdepts.pdf<br /><br />I find the original poster's oversimplifying attitude and assumption of "discouragement and implicit bias" typical of the amazingly unscientific approach astronomers and physicists take to this issue. Please tell us what the appropriate percentage of female faculty is, and why.Monkeyfishnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-51063134773043665802013-09-05T10:06:23.703-04:002013-09-05T10:06:23.703-04:00Anonymous, you are not considering the full contex...Anonymous, you are not considering the full context. While it might be frustrating for a guy to get rejected from an opportunity he is qualified for, I have no less sympathy for a woman who suffers the same fate, and that is far a more common problem.<br /><br />Plus, I have never seen real evidence that "better qualified" men are getting turned down for merely "qualified" women. In fact, I have never seen convincing evidence that measures of "qualification" are at all useful for predicting success with much precision, aside from perhaps the few most extraordinary performers. Really, there are the exceptional cases, who will be selected in any case, and then a pool of qualified candidates. Claims of "better qualified" applicants being overlooked usually sound more like sour grapes than valid complaints.jlrnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-79718063270219844512013-08-29T08:11:25.410-04:002013-08-29T08:11:25.410-04:00Its true that having a woman in a position in astr...Its true that having a woman in a position in astronomy might give more encouragement to woman in the long term. But does not that go into gender discrimination i.e to select a person based on her/his gender rather than his skills. Can the man not selected in the position do anything to the fact that he is a man? And yes from where I am studying (outside USA) it is common these days to attribute bursary in Astronomy more to woman than to man. You fall sometimes on classes where most of the students are women. I would be fine with such a class if it was purely on merit base ... but I know it is not. In the end I kind of feel sad that somewhere, some guy got rejected even though he had good results purely because of how he was born!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-30707809058474992462013-08-09T14:29:30.098-04:002013-08-09T14:29:30.098-04:00Anonymous... As a long term strategy, reducing the...Anonymous... As a long term strategy, reducing the biases against women in astronomy is a worthwhile goal--we hobble ourselves unnecessarily when we restrict our resources to half the population. Having appropriate role models and examples in prominent positions and in front of classrooms is a very useful step in this long term strategy. <br /><br />A (by your admission) qualified female who can also contribute toward that long term strategy may well be--purely from the standpoint of what is best for Astronomy--a far better candidate than the "better qualified" male, when the long term, as well as short term, contingencies are examined. A short-<i>term</i> strategy may well also be a short-<i>sighted</i> strategy. Cuttlefishhttp://freethoughtblogs.com/cuttlefishnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-6026132137251318652013-08-09T13:56:17.856-04:002013-08-09T13:56:17.856-04:00And how is she supposed to get *equal* qualificati...And how is she supposed to get *equal* qualifications if she is unable to get hired because of bias? That's a Catch 22. Can't get experience, and then not hired because you don't have experience.<br /><br />Qualifications are supposed to say who would be best at a job. She could easily be the better astronomer.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18217426755612887333noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-70301349197052170502013-08-09T13:42:52.889-04:002013-08-09T13:42:52.889-04:00Anonymous, can you share what makes you believe th...Anonymous, can you share what makes you believe that is common?Julianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-18223035734554248342013-08-09T11:51:06.424-04:002013-08-09T11:51:06.424-04:00I absolutely support diversification as long its g...I absolutely support diversification as long its goals are to "rectify an imbalance caused by discouragement and implicit bias". However, in recent hiring practice in astronomy, it has been common to hire a qualified female over an even better qualified male. Wouldn't you call that reversed discrimination? This is a difficult topic, but both sides have to be viewed!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-55236346368716961932013-08-09T11:21:27.916-04:002013-08-09T11:21:27.916-04:00What a succinct response. I'll try that the n...What a succinct response. I'll try that the next time I hear "reverse discrimination" cried.photonnoreply@blogger.com