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From: timlee@bnrmtv.UUCP (Timothy Lee)
Newsgroups: net.women,net.sci
Subject: Re: Why are there so few [female|black] physicists?
Message-ID: <526@bnrmtv.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 24-Jul-86 17:18:26 EDT
Article-I.D.: bnrmtv.526
Posted: Thu Jul 24 17:18:26 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 26-Jul-86 07:24:06 EDT
References: <1970@brl-smoke.ARPA> <320@rtech.UUCP>
Organization: Bell Northern Research, Mtn. View, CA
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Xref: watmath net.women:11582 net.sci:1364

> Well, then, be skeptical of me.  I was severlly insulted by the employment
> divisions of two companys that offered me high paying jobs that had nothing
> that they needed done, that simply took advantage of the fact that I was a
> double minority and formerly a student without taxable income (some states
> with employment drives give Big tax breaks for hiring someone that was
> formerly unemployed or employed below a subsitance level).  If I had taken
> those jobs I would have had saved them more money and fulfilled enough
> Quotas to make it worth their while to hire me and not have me to anything.
> The assumption that I resented was that I *would* do nothing.  And, being
> above all an arrogant Techer, that angered me enough after a cursory
> questioning of my supposed soon-to-be boss to say to the face of the
> employment manager that I was not going to take their job and why.

Similar situations happen in colleges and universities.  The emphasis nowadays
is on `enrollment and retention', a euphamism for admitting as many targeted-
group students as possible, then making sure that they stay as long as
possible.  This means discouraging them from taking difficult courses or
majors (so they don't flunk out) and getting them to take a lesser number of
courses per semester/quarter (so they graduate in 5 or 6 instead of the
usual 4 years;  such a 5 year student counts 5/4 as much as a 4 year student
in figuring quotas).  The result is that the really well qualified student
who would have gotten in and succeeded anyway to feel inferior because of
his/her race/sex.  The presence of a large number of `quota admits' lowers
the college community's perception of the student's race/sex, thus causing
others to see him/her less favorably than a student from a non-targeted
group.  Those who are the actual `quota admits' would face the same prejudice,
but also would likely receive an education of marginal value (the easiest
major and course selection).