I'm not defending Nepotism. I'm saying there is an obvious explanation of the effect the article is talking about (and several bad explanations that rely on cultural tropes)

Oh sure. I got what you were saying. I was adding on to it by kind of pointing out the historic, world-defining nepotism of white ethnic groups. And also saying that not all nepotistic-like behaviour is bad.

And also pointing out that people looking at Indian hiring trends from the outside need to be aware that Indian (/Pakistani/Bangladeshi/Diaspora/look-alike Sri Lankan) people do not see themselves as a monolith. They are not only as diverse as European peoples, but tack on caste on top of it.

If an Indian is only hiring Indians, but is hiring Indians from all castes, this might be better than a Yalie (graduate of Yale) hiring only other Yalies.

> "If an Indian is only hiring Indians, but is hiring Indians from all castes, this might be better than a Yalie (graduate of Yale) hiring only other Yalies."

Does that make this behavior okay? Let's run a thought experiment:

If a White man is only hiring White men, but is hiring White men from all ethnic groups (English, French, German, Italian, Polish, etc.), this might be better than a Yalie (graduate of Yale) hiring only other Yalies.

It doesn't make it "okay", but it can make it "better" than some other thing.

And no, I'm not talking about ethnic group hiring here (primarily), I'm talking about caste-based hiring. Which would make the following a better parallel:

If a White man is only hiring White people, but is hiring from all economic and educational groups (from white trash with a third-grade education to blue-bloods with post-doctoral certifications), this is better than a Yalie hiring only other Yalies. All else held equal.

Better how? If someone who only holds 3rd grade education on paper but self taught to become a master in some field then in truth he is not holding only a 3rd grade education. But if he learned nothing beyond 3rd grade then I really hope he isn't being hired for complex skilled work that he cannot perform

Back in the day corporations used to train people to be competent at doing the job they were hired to do.

Computer disciplines are different than most others in not requiring a degree to prove competency. I'm in biology, and good luck getting any decent job without a B.S., regardless of how competent you are. For Bio jobs a third-grade education is only a third-grade education, regardless of your self-taught skills.

White trash is a derogatory racial and class-related slur used in American English to refer to poor white people, especially in the rural southern United States.

Do you have a word I can use that will get across the idea of a marginalized and looked-down-up white group in the US without using a slur?

How did English gentlemen enter the discussion though?

Why is Indian too big a group to discuss in this context?

"English gentleman" is, within the last 400 years, the most world-shaking in-group. And it preferentially hired and promoted within the in-group into the present era.

Dalits and scheduled castes and tribes (forgive me if I'm getting this wrong) make up about 40% of Indians, but are historically about as marginalized as Native Americans and Blacks are in the US. And this marginalization continues with hiring practices in the US.