On Wed, March 20, 2013 10:01 am, Jeffrey Haas wrote:
On Wed, Mar 20, 2013 at 09:01:01AM -0700, Dan Harkins wrote:
On Wed, March 20, 2013 8:35 am, Dave Crocker wrote:
ps. A small point to watch for, if there is a focus on a defined list
of groups, is the difference between discriminating /against/, versus
ensuring representation /from/. Active prohibition vs. active
solicitation. The exchange between Margaret and Stuart seemed to mix
these. We need to be careful about the distinction.
I have been viewing this as the difference between discriminating
against versus discriminating for. And I am against discrimination,
even that done for the best of intentions.
This is certainly the biggest challenge of any intent to include diversity
(of any form) in the mix.
In general, we want the best people in the job in question. What is
"best"
depends on the position (chair, I*, etc.) but as a technical organization
that runs on documents, several things will bubble to the top:
- Technical clue in the matter at hand.
- Reasonable administrative skills.
- Ability to work with others.
- Solid communication skills.
For candidates wherein the above things are roughly equal - or have
exceeded
the requirements - diversity is a possible tie-breaker. If the intent is
to
emphasize diversity (for some metric) over one of the core skills, that's
certainly possible.
By "that", I take it you mean it's certainly possible to discriminate in
favor
some metric of diversity and against a core skill. So? Is that the intent?
There is quite a bit of dancing around this subject and it would be nice
to say what we all mean here. If you're proposing that IETF start the
practice of discriminating against certain people then say so.
The primary challenge then is making sure there is a diverse candidate
pool
that satisfies the minimum core skills needed for the positions. See
prior
discussion on mentoring.
You snipped my other question. So let me ask again. What do we do
if, after ensuring that there's a diverse candidate pool that satisfies the
minimum core skills needed for positions, the end result is more white
men? Do we stop with the pretense of ensuring diversity of opportunity
and just proceed to diversity of result? Do we enshrine the "soft bigotry
of low expectations"?
Dan.