TIL the inability to delay send Gmail emails marginalizes women and minorities

[Exterous]

This was the central point in an argument for a site wide license of a popular Gmail add on that allows the scheduling of email responses to be sent during normal business hours as opposed to sending them outside of normal hours

"This add on is essential for our University's diversity and inclusion initiative as women and minorities are compelled to "reply and comply" immediately or risk further marginalization in our society."

They want to spend $150,000 annually for this. It's also seems like they could just keep the email in the drafts folder till the morning but hey, it's just money right?

 

[lxskllr]

I feel I'm under no obligation to work around the psychological issues of others, and I certainly wouldn't pay a penny to so.

I'd schedule all my mail to be sent at 8pm, cause fuck you :^D

 

[IronWing]

I understand that some folks have their phones set to chirp when an email is received and feel an obligation to read/reply immediately. How stupid is that? Control your time or others will control your life.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Is the context here work or personal. I have opinions on both However, being a white male I'll wait until I'm damn well ready to respond.

 

[Exterous]

Is the context here work or personal. I have opinions on both However, being a white male I'll wait until I'm damn well ready to respond.

Work email

 

[Exterous]

I understand that some folks have their phones set to chirp when an email is received and feel an obligation to read/reply immediately. How stupid is that? Control your time or others will control your life.

That's your male privilege speaking

 

[highland145]

Work email

Isn't there some new regulation about having to respond after hours?

 

[highland145]

That's your male privilege speaking

Own it @IronWing , own it proudly.

 

[child of wonder]

God, future generations are going to be so weak.

If this life is a simulation, I'm convinced my simulation is watching the end of Western civilization.

 

[IronWing]

Own it @IronWing , own it proudly.

Of course I own my male privilege. The world is my urinal and it is wonderful!

 

[rh71]

Some people will find any excuse to rail on diversity groups. This isn't one of those times.

I can't believe this is actually a proposal they're bringing forth, like they have nothing better to do.

 

[rh71]

I understand that some folks have their phones set to chirp when an email is received and feel an obligation to read/reply immediately. How stupid is that? Control your time or others will control your life.

I don't feel an obligation to reply immediately because they expect a response. I don't like keeping things on my plate, plain and simple. My to-do list is already a mile long. I don't need to add another to it when I can take care of it right then if it's easy enough. It may appear like it's good work ethic, but in reality it's time management so I can stay afloat because I like to be in control of that. Irony right?

 

[nakedfrog]

What sort of scheduled email responses are we talking about here? Is this just an out-of-office notification sort of thing?

 

[spacejamz]

not sure what is worse...someone actually believes this crap or that someone actually believes others will buy into this crap...

 

[Exterous]

What sort of scheduled email responses are we talking about here? Is this just an out-of-office notification sort of thing?

No - they compose a reply or new message outside of normal business hours. To respect the work life balance and not 'marginalize women and minorities' they want the ability, at the time of composition, to schedule a time during normal work hours for the email to automatically be sent. Personally I'm having a hard time grasping why saving the email in drafts until you come into work in the morning is not a viable alternative to save $150,000 a year (which comes from tuition). There are a few other things it adds but most are things you can already do if you just utilize whats already there differently

 

[nakedfrog]

No - they compose a reply or new message outside of normal business hours. To respect the work life balance and not 'marginalize women and minorities' they want the ability, at the time of composition, to schedule a time during normal work hours for the email to automatically be sent. Personally I'm having a hard time grasping why saving the email in drafts until you come into work in the morning is not a viable alternative to save $150,000 a year (which comes from tuition)

Yeah... I mean, if you don't think you'll remember, just set a reminder in your phone or something.

Though I guess I'm still not sure why you wouldn't just send it when it was done in the first place.

 

[IronWing]

Though I guess I'm still not sure why you wouldn't just send it when it was done in the first place.

See my post above. There really are people who watch their email like hawks, reply immediately, and then complain about work/life balance. Just because I start work at 6:30am doesn't mean I expect folks to reply to my email at 6:30am. The beauty of email/voicemail is that it puts the users in charge of their priorities but only if they choose to take charge.

 

[spacejamz]

So it is okay for them to be working after hours just as long their email recipients don't know that they are working after normal hours??

 

[nakedfrog]

See my post above. There really are people who watch their email like hawks, reply immediately, and then complain about work/life balance. Just because I start work at 6:30am doesn't mean I expect folks to reply to my email at 6:30am. The beauty of email/voicemail is that it puts the users in charge of their priorities but only if they choose to take charge.

They might just need something to complain about to be happy anyway.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Just out of curiosity - public or private university?

 

[ctbaars]

No - they compose a reply or new message outside of normal business hours. To respect the work life balance and not 'marginalize women and minorities' they want the ability, at the time of composition, to schedule a time during normal work hours for the email to automatically be sent. Personally I'm having a hard time grasping why saving the email in drafts until you come into work in the morning is not a viable alternative to save $150,000 a year (which comes from tuition). There are a few other things it adds but most are things you can already do if you just utilize whats already there differently

I think you're missing an aspect to this. Yes it could be put in Draft. What they really want to do is hold back non-marginalized women and non-minorities from responding to emails immediately. They want the non-marginalized women and non-minorities to adopt the life-work schedule that marginalized women and minorities hold to.