Re:"I couldn't move for a postdoc. Fellowship reviewers pena...
by lolinder on Saturday November 04, 2023 @01:41AM
(#38138498)
Based on many anecdotes from friends and family in academia as well as many recent news reports (such as the one linked to by GP at the end of the line you quoted), I would say that universities have been violating employment discrimination laws regularly and egregiously and are only recently being held to account for it.
Big tech's methods for avoiding liability may seem silly or extreme, but they arguably also work: if you literally know nothing about someone's protected classes you cannot make decisions based on them. Academic hiring, meanwhile, seems intent on collecting as much information as possible about as many protected characteristics as possible.
Re:"I couldn't move for a postdoc. Fellowship reviewers pena...
by naniwaduni on Saturday November 04, 2023 @01:23AM
(#38138402)
I think "hiring process inappropriately used race as a factor" sounds a lot like "they are violating employment discrimination laws, but that the laws so far have not been enforced perfectly", actually.
Re:"I couldn't move for a postdoc. Fellowship reviewers pena...
by pfannkuchen on Saturday November 04, 2023 @01:25AM
(#38138416)
I agree with your statement, I’m strictly referring to the exchange I mentioned and not to the overall topic.
Re:"I couldn't move for a postdoc. Fellowship reviewers pena...
by naniwaduni on Saturday November 04, 2023 @01:36AM
(#38138477)
The link to the UW case is literally at the end of the line you quoted? I would assume that poster meant for those things to be related.
Re:"I couldn't move for a postdoc. Fellowship reviewers pena...
by lazyasciiart on Saturday November 04, 2023 @01:24AM
(#38138409)
The “at least they are starting to be held accountable” comment literally includes a link to the story of one that was violating employment laws.
“universities behave as if employment discrimination laws don't exist. At least they're starting to be held accountable”
This seems to be suggesting that they are violating employment discrimination laws, but that the laws so far have not been enforced perfectly.
I think parent is saying that they are not violating employment discrimination laws, they are just less paranoid about accidentally violating them than FAANG companies are.
Universities do generally have a much smaller $$$ target on their back, so it would not be too surprising if big tech is more paranoid about lawsuits than universities.