There is utility in being part of an in group be that people from country X, religion Y, or just credential Z. The trade off is worse global performance, but MBA's networking with other MBA's can be good for people with MBA's and eff anyone else.

On top of that their are cognitive biases like I got an CS degree so getting a CS degree must be a good idea. Therefore I will give preference to others with a CS degree.

PS: Men do face discrimination in female dominated fields, and being white can often hurt your chances for various things. But, while dead weight losses exist the incentives often favor discrimination even if it's called networking.

That is something I also see. All sorts of discrimination gets put under the umbrella of networking. It's a lot harder to apply to a CS job through Indeed, Dice, Monster, et cetera, but my current part time job I got through an industry networking event, which I was only able to go to because I have the luxury of free time to search for a job.

I'm curious if anyone has thoughts to what might change this.

Tribalism seems to be encoded in the genes of every primate species on the planet, so it's not that surprising. In our past, every time a line dividing tribes was erased, we drew a different line.

This is just speculation on my part, but the only way we'll achieve cohesion as a species is if/when we encounter intelligent alien life. We'll still be tribal, but at an interplanetary level.

Those damn Japanese ^W Mexicans ^W Martians ^W Klingons ^W Cardassians ^W Borg!

Hey you leave the Borg out of this. They're the most inclusive group out there!

Talk about a rough way to learn you have a new 'intern buddy.'

Why do you resist? We only wish to raise the quality of life for all...

Course, same solution for them too. Back off Borg. If your society's so great, sell it to me, don't force yourself on me.