ietf
[Top] [All Lists]

RE: Diversity of IETF Leadership

2013-03-12 08:55:37
I kind of promised I would not get sucked into this particular rat hole, but...
The problem is with the poorly scoped use of the word "diversity".
It is clear from some research that certain types of increased diversity do 
increase the quality of decision-making. 
It is also clear from rational thought that the diversity has to be scoped by 
"obvious" criteria such as ability to be informed about the issues, ability to 
express opinions, and ability to make decisions. 

One could argue that increasing "diversity" on the IESG by appointing a few 
rocks and a mollusc would improve the current IESG (and you might not find me 
arguing), but I don't believe this type of diversity is what was intended by 
the signatories. I think that the intention was to increase diversity within a 
set of unmentioned parameters. It might be helpful if the signatories could set 
out their thoughts on those parameters.

Adrian

-----Original Message-----
From: ietf-bounces(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org 
[mailto:ietf-bounces(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org] On Behalf Of Brian E
Carpenter
Sent: 12 March 2013 08:58
To: Dan Harkins
Cc: ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org
Subject: Re: Diversity of IETF Leadership

On 11/03/2013 20:02, Dan Harkins wrote:
In addition to the moral and social issues involved, diversity of
leadership across several axes (race, geographic location, gender
and corporate affiliation) is important for three practical reasons:

    - It is a well-established fact that diverse groups are smarter
      and make better decisions than less-diverse groups.

  I would really like to see this statement either backed up by
peer-reviewed apolitical scientific research or withdrawn by the
signatories of the open letter. It is highly offensive.

Speaking for myself, I do not find this statement in the least offensive.

It turns out that there's a book on the topic, for anyone who can
get hold of it:
http://books.google.co.uk/books/princeton?hl=en&q=&vid=ISBN9780691128382
&redir_esc=y

   Brian


<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>