University job for 'women, transgender, non-binary, or two-spirit' candididates

[marshwiggle]

University researcher job limited to 'women, transgender, non-binary, or two-spirit' candidates

"The Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo is seeking an exceptional scholar and researcher to fill a Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Tier 2 Canada Research Chair and tenure track position at the rank of Assistant Professor with an anticipated start date of 1 July 2022 ... This call is open only to qualified individuals who self-identify as women, transgender, non-binary, or two-spirit."

[mamselle]

So? It's like requiring a French scholar to speak French.

If a research area is focused on a particular population,  it's essential to have representatives of that population as part of the research team.

Props to them, we've been far too long in the tunnel-pontificating world of outsiders completely dominating studies of specific groups.

I'm dealing with one now....if an actual dance historian had participated on the research team, and not just a bunch of poets, rhetoricians, linguistic scholars,, and philologists*, they might not have made quite so much hash of the dance-word-study as they did.

The sour-grapes, "boo-hoo, they don't want MEEEE!" plahnt is quite too well overdone.

M.


* much as I love all those critters, in their proper cages....

[Katrina Gulliver]

So? It's like requiring a French scholar to speak French.

If a research area is focused on a particular population,  it's essential to have representatives of that population as part of the research team.

If it is focused on a population, sure.
Except this job looks to be in engineering, not gender.

[mamselle]

OK, then it's about requiring a school to hire more French-speaking people in order to reflect the francophone level of the population overall.

Maybe not as specific as I was positing, but the issue is still the same.

After the many, many years of discrimination overall, a few targeted hires will at least start to scratch the surface.

The whiny, '..this means I can't apply" fuss is still just that, a fuss.

Until they started doing behind-screen auditions, black players knew not to expect to be seated in orchestras, too, so they often didn't try out.

This is just more explicit, and in the broader view, fairer.

Translated: right, I don't have a problem with EOE specifications. We're still barely at anything like parity or percentage-based representation.

People who used to be leveraged by assumption are having to compete in tighter settings. Some of the ones who used to get by on their default-stereotypical appearance, gender, etc., were not as well-qualified for the position as those who didn't match the profile.

So?

I get shut out of jobs all the time for stupid reasons (age, gender, background etc.). I just apply for the next one, or move on and create my own.

OK, back to work. An independent scholar's still gotta present and try to publish...

M.

[Langue_doc]

University researcher job limited to 'women, transgender, non-binary, or two-spirit' candidates

"The Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo is seeking an exceptional scholar and researcher to fill a Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Tier 2 Canada Research Chair and tenure track position at the rank of Assistant Professor with an anticipated start date of 1 July 2022 ... This call is open only to qualified individuals who self-identify as women, transgender, non-binary, or two-spirit."

Are people who self-identify as women different from women? Instead of this convoluted list, why not announce that the position excludes men?

[little bongo]

Wasn't familiar with the term "two spirit"--I appreciate the learning opportunity.

[marshwiggle]

University researcher job limited to 'women, transgender, non-binary, or two-spirit' candidates

"The Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo is seeking an exceptional scholar and researcher to fill a Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Tier 2 Canada Research Chair and tenure track position at the rank of Assistant Professor with an anticipated start date of 1 July 2022 ... This call is open only to qualified individuals who self-identify as women, transgender, non-binary, or two-spirit."

Are people who self-identify as women different from women? Instead of this convoluted list, why not announce that the position excludes men?

And I wouldn't be surprised if some women were annoyed at having to "self-identify" as women. I'm picturing something like this:
"I HAVE GIVEN BIRTH TO TWO KIDS. DOES THAT COUNT????"

[Parasaurolophus]

Note that this is perfectly legal under §15 (2) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Canada's constitution).

Also note that it's entirely common to see jobs like this--i.e. CRCs, but also other academic jobs--restricted to certain pools of applicants. I see a handful every year.

Are people who self-identify as women different from women?

No.

nstead of this convoluted list, why not announce that the position excludes men?

Because trans men are men, but may apply.

[marshwiggle]

nstead of this convoluted list, why not announce that the position excludes men?

Because trans men are men, but may apply.

This raises an interesting question. If someone "self-identifies" as <whatever> to get the job, and then after being hired, changes their "self-identification", can they be fired?

[lilyb]

nstead of this convoluted list, why not announce that the position excludes men?

Because trans men are men, but may apply.

This raises an interesting question. If someone "self-identifies" as <whatever> to get the job, and then after being hired, changes their "self-identification", can they be fired?

This doesn't answer your question, but could show the consequences of flipping one's identification. At my previous institution, a job candidate presented himself as gay. He did not say this outright. Instead, he performed every mannerism and made every innuendo that one might associate with a flamboyant gay man. The young faculty loved him.

He gets hired and arrives on campus as a flaming heterosexual. He constantly pursued the young female graduate students.

Those same faculty turned against him almost immediately, but it took years to get rid of him.

[marshwiggle]

nstead of this convoluted list, why not announce that the position excludes men?

Because trans men are men, but may apply.

This raises an interesting question. If someone "self-identifies" as <whatever> to get the job, and then after being hired, changes their "self-identification", can they be fired?

This doesn't answer your question, but could show the consequences of flipping one's identification. At my previous institution, a job candidate presented himself as gay. He did not say this outright. Instead, he performed every mannerism and made every innuendo that one might associate with a flamboyant gay man. The young faculty loved him.

He gets hired and arrives on campus as a flaming heterosexual. He constantly pursued the young female graduate students.

Those same faculty turned against him almost immediately, but it took years to get rid of him.

Which I'm guessing had to be on some other grounds, since he never actually claimed to be gay.

[dismalist]

nstead of this convoluted list, why not announce that the position excludes men?

Because trans men are men, but may apply.

This raises an interesting question. If someone "self-identifies" as <whatever> to get the job, and then after being hired, changes their "self-identification", can they be fired?

Now, you see, if we had tradable quotas, the person who changed his or her mind would have to sell the quota right he or she owned now and buy a different quota right.

Going from special case to straight white male would cost a pretty penny! :-)

[lilyb]

Yes, it was not for misrepresentation. I think those faculty felt badly deceived, though, and a perceived lack of collegiality certainly played a part in his non-renewal after three years.

[Wahoo Redux]

After the many, many years of discrimination overall, a few targeted hires will at least start to scratch the surface.

The whiny, '..this means I can't apply" fuss is still just that, a fuss.

<snip>

This is just more explicit, and in the broader view, fairer.

Translated: right, I don't have a problem with EOE specifications. We're still barely at anything like parity or percentage-based representation.

However, mamselle, to be denied an opportunity for a job is no small thing in today's job climate.

I find that this is often the rationale: 'You whiney people who want to compete for a career need to just realize that the past was very unfair and so you need to sacrifice yourself to make up for the sins of the fathers' (because it was primarily but not exclusively "fathers" who made the mess).

This approach treats people's futures in an extremely superficial and cavalier way. 

And if this is true, and a white cisgender person needs to politely step aside and remain in the adjunct ranks, then anyone who is of the majority demographic and currently tenured or tenure-track should please resign.  White your university president, the school newspaper, and FOX News and announce that you are resigning so that a minority person can take your job.

[marshwiggle]

nstead of this convoluted list, why not announce that the position excludes men?

Because trans men are men, but may apply.

This raises an interesting question. If someone "self-identifies" as <whatever> to get the job, and then after being hired, changes their "self-identification", can they be fired?

Now, you see, if we had tradable quotas, the person who changed his or her mind would have to sell the quota right he or she owned now and buy a different quota right.

Going from special case to straight white male would cost a pretty penny! :-)

How about dynamic quotas, so as people come and go, different categories are adjusted up or down so that everyone's salaries change? In principle, that would mean as *"under-quota" representatives leave, the salaries of remaining people from that group would go up, so they'd be incentivized to stay. Self-correcting even!!!


(*Or as "over-quota" representatives leave, the salaries of remaining people from that group would go also up, especially if the replacement was from an "under-quota" group.)