Eric Sorenson <eric.soren...@puppetlabs.com> writes: >>> Diversity is very important to us, so this year's survey also asks about >>> gender and diversity in tech.
>> I am still concerned that this is being accomplished through the
>> use of misogynist language. I hope that nobody is turned away from the
>> field simply by going through this survey!
> Hi Tim, I think Alanna, Nigel, and Nicole joined this conversation as well,
> but the goal here is not to assert this statement as something the study
> authors believe, or they think YOU should believe, but rather as a
> statement expressing *one possible* belief, in order to register reactions
> ranging from 'strongly agree' to 'strongly disagree'.
To be clear: the context is the language in question reads:
| Even though it's not politically correct to say it, men are often more
| suited than women to do high-level work in my field.
This appears on the final page of your (long-ish) survey, well
after those surveyed have provided their contact information and well past
any mental "point of no return", and with no way to skip the question
without simply aborting out.
> Sounds like you (and me as well for what it's worth) strongly disagree.
I believe that your statement is offensive on its face. To
illustrate, I urge you to consider this: would you have been comfortable
asking about race or sexual orientation using this same rhetorical style?
Your argument on Twitter and G+ has been, if I may paraphrase, "we
believe that the science compels us to ask the question in this precise
way". Even if I shared your belief, I do not find this to be an adequate
excuse for such unprofessional and misogynist language.
If you want to pursue this, I believe that an inverted form of the
question would have been significantly less offensive, e.g.:
Women are just as suited as men to do high-level work in my field.
...but it is, perhaps, too late to change the question. Instead,
I suggest that you strike the question from the survey now, and perhaps
consider out a less-offensive way to study the question in a future
study. (Maybe by funding the authors of the original study for additional
research?)
- Tim Skirvin (tskir...@fnal.gov)
--
HPC Systems Administrator / Developer http://www.linkedin.com/in/tskirvin
Fermilab - USCMS-T1 Collaboration Experiment Computing Facilities
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