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The question is, what are we really looking for here?

Equal Opportunity, or Equal Outcome?

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
I have a proposal that I think would settle this. Simply require that all applications and CVs be scrubbed of any reference to sex - or race, age, ethnic background etc for that matter - or any way to guess the same, such as name - before being submitted for evaluation. And so as to not unconsciously bias the evaluators, rather than give the applications identities like 1, 2, or 3, or A, B, or C, for example (do you really ant to be F?), give them randomly assigned strings of symbols. Then let the evaluators do their thing. For interviews, put them in a separate room where they can hear the questions, but the interviewers get the answers by computer translation to text.

This will work well to blind screening for knowledge content.

Now, some jobs might need manual dexterity tests, or physical capability tests. That's even easier to blind, since all you need to test is the starting point, and the completed task. Jobs which require a portfolio are also easy to blind. So physical capability is also blinded.

What more could anyone ask for?

So anyway ... anyone up for a rational, fact-based, and civil discussion about the topic?

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Originally posted by 1kiki:

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The question is, what are we really looking for here?

Equal Opportunity, or Equal Outcome?

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I thought I answered that with my proposal for blinded testing? Though I do have to say, the questions that are asked can be problematic in their own right.

A hundred years ago German philosophy was stuck on the idea of the 'overman', which was then applied to the idea of evolution, leading to the idea of the 'alpha' male. So when German scientists went out to study animals, they found a planetful of 'alpha' males. Blinded by their preconceptions, it wasn't until 80 years later that other less biased researchers realized the 'alpha' males spent a lot of time fighting while the females went to sneak off with the other, meeker weaker males. And it took another 20 years for DNA testing to bear this out.

The problem is, you can carefully ask your questions - but it won't matter how carefully you ask them if you ask the wrong ones.

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