Diversity Hires

Happy International Women's Day! That's a relief because I don't have to wrack my brain for a blog idea. Last weekend, I was chatting with a guy on a walk with the International's Meetup group. We were talking about women in politics, and he said that Italy had reserved quotas for women because of which many dumb women were in positions of political power. Which got me thinking.

The idea that men are smarter than women is quite popular, even among supposedly woke men who would only venture this opinion in male company. But, in my experience incompetence is gender-blind. I have had incompetent male bosses as well as incompetent female bosses. The only difference is male incompetence is viewed as a personal shortcoming while female incompetence is seen as a shortcoming of the entire sex. 

A few months ago, I watched a TV contest of female stand-up comedians in India and found most of them quite bad. I am not a fan of male Indian stand-up comics either, but they are at least marginally funny. I was disappointed because I felt viewers would go away with the impression that women are not funny, which is unfair. Just as it is unfair to let two racers start from different points, it is unfair to compare men with women who are trying to enter a male-dominated profession. Who have for their whole lives been told that men are stronger, funnier and smarter than them. Is this being patronizing towards the women who don't want any special favors from men? Yes, but I believe super-capable women are seldom trailblazers because they are few in number (just as few as super-capable men). These women are able to able to break glass ceilings, but only for themselves as they are seen as exceptional. While they may serve as inspirations for younger women, their performance doesn't do a great deal to change social perceptions about women. The majority of men and women, by definition, are of moderate ability. It is women of moderate ability, supported by affirmative action policies, who will truly advance the cause of gender equality when they enter male-dominated professions in large numbers. They might compare poorly with their male colleagues at the beginning, but they will get better. Just as female stand-up comedians in India will become funnier.