Re:NSF starts vetting all grants to comply with executive or...
by Manuel_D on Friday January 31, 2025 @08:14PM
(#42894596)
An inequitable outcome is not proof of bias or discrimination. Ask a group of high school kids to solve a quadratic equation, and there won't be an equitable distribution of correct answers.
Unconscious biases can be eliminated through anonymization or adopting objective evaluation criteria. E.g. having an orchestra audition behind a veil is a way to eliminate bias. By contrast, setting quotas on the number of each gender or race achieves equity, but it does so through explicit discrimination.
Some DEI policies act like a veil. Others work like the latter. The recent executive orders ban the latter, not the former.
Unconscious biases can be eliminated through anonymization or adopting objective evaluation criteria. E.g. having an orchestra audition behind a veil is a way to eliminate bias. By contrast, setting quotas on the number of each gender or race achieves equity, but it does so through explicit discrimination.
Some DEI policies act like a veil. Others work like the latter. The recent executive orders ban the latter, not the former.