Do you think there is strength in diversity and something that should be sought

[yllus]

Was being a female the driving force that enabled the person to form that viewpoint though? And if it were a male in that situation would they have equal chance of recognizing said problem? Maybe not I don't know, but I wonder if we have someone's individual thoughts and accomplishments being boiled down and attributed to their gender and whether that is in reality accurate.

I can only report on what happened. Five to ten men involved in discussing the decision did not recognize how poorly a decision would have been perceived (obvious in retrospect), while the one woman did. Sometimes it's not been the same one woman, and they've had varying levels of career experience and roles. This has happened to us a number of times. It's anecdotal, but I truly do not doubt the wisdom of having a diversity of people discussing any and all matters.

 

[pmv]

Because people from different economic classes have radically different life experiences. People from similar economic classes have similar life experiences.

I don't think you can claim that that is greater than other differences, e.g. gender. It just seems an impossible iand rresolvable argument to get into whether class or sex is more 'important' in that respect.

Though what I do wonder about, is that while men of a given class at least tend to _know_ women of their social class, cross-class friendships and family relationships seem to be less common (and might even be getting less so).

Seems to me society is heading in the direction of greater class-stratification but a bit more gender mixing (don't really know with regard to race). There seem to be a good few liberal institutions full of men who are vaguely aware of what their female co-workers might think, but who rarely even meet or socially interact with low-income or lower-class people. This might partly explain some of the shock over Brexit and Trump (though I think the extent to which those things are a concequence of the votes of lower-income people seems a lot less clear-cut than some claim, it does seem like it made the difference at the margins).

 

[Atreus21]

How about ESPN?

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/14453565/why-centers-smartest-guys-field

Also, common sense. Centers are the ones who direct the rest of the offensive linemen, set the blocking, etc. Do you even watch football? Also, you do understand that these are strong trends, not ironclad laws, right? You are desperately reaching for any way to deny them. If you look at the overall distribution of NFL players white people go to the 'smart' positions and black people go to the 'athlete' positions. This is not by accident.

Accepting your premise, I don't see why it's not by accident. There are two possible explanations (well, three I guess): (1) That racial disparities in the NFL are functions primarily of players going into the positions that interest them, or (2) that they are caused by endemic racism, or (3) some combination of the first two.

What evidence is there for 2?

So again, the only explanation you have is that black people like it that way? Come on man, you can't be serious.

If it's that or chalking it up to racism, yes I can definitely be serious. For me it's a question of which is more likely. Fundamentally that's where we disagree, I think. I don't see racism as the more likely of the two explanations and you do.

I have been to New Orleans many, many times. I almost moved there permanently, if you remember.

Yes I forgot, sorry.

However, tell me what you saw in New Orleans that serves as an example of what you're talking about. I'll concede that monuments to white supremacy are racist.

 

[UglyCasanova]

Seems to me society is heading in the direction of greater class-stratification but a bit more gender mixing (don't really know with regard to race). There seem to be a good few liberal institutions full of men who are vaguely aware of what their female co-workers might think, but who rarely even meet or socially interact with low-income or lower-class people. This might partly explain some of the shock over Brexit and Trump (though I think the extent to which those things are a concequence of the votes of lower-income people seems a lot less clear-cut than some claim, it does seem like it made the difference at the margins).

It absolutely becoming more satisfied in terms of class, and I think there is plenty of mixing between genders. Men are more than vaguely aware of women and there opinions and vice versa. There is plenty of interaction going on between the sexes unlike between high and low classes of society. And you make a salient point on Trump and Brexit, the fact that it came as this huge shock shows just how out of touch people can be.

 

[Grooveriding]

Not sure why any of that had to do with me asking you to define diversity and tell me where that diversity comes from. Perhaps that was meant for someone else?



You threw me, because you made it seem like you were going to give me an answer, and did not.



Religion sucks for many people and I am no fan. Please though, define what you think diversity is, and where it comes from.

You can re-read my post where I explicitly give my definition, or ignore it.

 

[jackstar7]

Was being a female the driving force that enabled the person to form that viewpoint though? And if it were a male in that situation would they have equal chance of recognizing said problem? Maybe not I don't know, but I wonder if we have someone's individual thoughts and accomplishments being boiled down and attributed to their gender and whether that is in reality accurate.

Look no one is saying you're not a special snowflake.

 

[Starbuck1975]

The fact that you completely mischaracterized a study to the point that it was obvious you had not made even a cursory attempt to read the thing you were criticizing is not a point worth acknowledging?

Good to know where your standards are.

This is /facepalm worthy. Within a single production system having multiple ways of doing things is not efficient. Within a market, having multiple ways of doing things is highly efficient. This was in fact the point of the study I provided you that you didn't read. It's that competition between competing ways of producing things that is at the root of why capitalism is effective and why communism doesn't work. The gains from diversity usually aren't that the Black Team is making widgets one way and the White Team is making them another, it's that both bring different perspectives which allows you to collectively find the best widget maker you can.

I read the study. It doesn't say what you are saying.

What you are talking about relative to markets is not diversity, that is simply competition and innovation.

I get the impression you have no idea how production systems work. Diversity is not some magical catalyst.

 

[fskimospy]

I read the study. It doesn't say what you are saying.

It exactly says what I'm saying. Allow me to quote from the abstract for the second time.

Markets are central to modern society, so their failures can have devastating effects. Here, we examine a prominent failure: price bubbles. We propose that bubbles are affected by ethnic homogeneity in the market and can be thwarted by diversity. Using experimental markets in Southeast Asia and North America, we find a marked difference: Market prices fit true values 58% better in diverse markets. In homogenous markets, overpricing is higher and traders’ errors are more correlated than in diverse markets. The findings suggest that price bubbles arise not only from individual errors or financial conditions, but also from the social context of decision making. Informing public discussion, our findings suggest that diversity facilitates friction that enhances deliberation and upends conformity.

There is no way you read that study and we both know it. Initially you were trying to claim it was about asset portfolio diversity, lol.

What you are talking about relative to markets is not diversity, that is simply competition and innovation.

I get the impression you have no idea how production systems work. Diversity is not some magical catalyst.

I get the impression that you're trying to salvage a losing argument. Competition is the clash of different ideas and different ways of doing things, the sort of activity that diversity initiatives are explicitly designed to foster. Nobody's talking about magic, simply what is best.

 

[brandonbull]

It would depend on the situation.

 

[realibrad]

You can re-read my post where I explicitly give my definition, or ignore it.

Do as you wish. If you want to pretend that your post defines what diversity is then that is up to you. My guess is that your post was truly your attempt to define diversity, and that you simply cannot.

 

[Starbuck1975]

It exactly says what I'm saying. Allow me to quote from the abstract for the second time.

There is no way you read that study and we both know it. Initially you were trying to claim it was about asset portfolio diversity, lol.

I get the impression that you're trying to salvage a losing argument. Competition is the clash of different ideas and different ways of doing things, the sort of activity that diversity initiatives are explicitly designed to foster. Nobody's talking about magic, simply what is best.

Fine, the article says exactly what you think it says. It's not worth debating. You're playing semantics to salvage whatever argument you think you are making.

The premise of this thread is whether or not diversity should be sought. You believe that research based on pricing bubbles is evidence that diversity is good. I then explained how for production systems and systems engineering, variation and diversity is actually a very bad thing. I also pointed out that there are numerous articles in various business school journals that demonstrate there is little ROI on corporate investments in diversity.

So the answer to the OP is really that it depends.

Diversity is great if you're a foodie and want dining options or if you're a product team and you're trying to innovate or you're investing and want a dynamic portfolio.

For production systems, quality, the efficient execution of tasks, process, flow and even the establishment of team norms, diversity and variation are a source of friction.

 

[BurnItDwn]

There is obviosly much strength in diversity. I dont know if it should need to be a thing you intend, it should more or less be the natural order of things.

Would you rather live in a town with 15 of the same kind of restaurants, or a town with 15 different styles and types of food?
I mean, I love steak and eggs, but sometimes I want prime rib, or smoked ribs, or lazagna, or fish fry, or thai food, or korean bbq, or a jewish deli, or some grecian style braised octopus or gyros or pizza or tacos or pancakes or vindaloo with naan or pindi chaana or briyani or gumbo or jambalaya or oxtail soup or jerk chicken or mexican goat stew or arroz con gondules etc etc etc ...

I want to live among people with lots of different backgrounds so I can have an opportunity to enjoy a little bit of what they bring to the world. Its purely greed, I will reciprocate by whatever means I have to share a little bit of myself.

 

[Maxima1]

Wait, I thought women were secretaries and not engineers because they innately wanted to be secretaries?

Hmmm. The more you know.

More seriously, the pattern seems to be that less wealthy, and less egalitarian countries have a higher rate of women seeking typical male professions. Rich and more egalitarian countries will have a relatively low amount of women seeking technical professions.