Intel Budgets $300M for Diversity | Hacker News Reader

Intel Budgets $300M for Diversity

nytimes.com

13 pointsismavis7 comments

Itll cost them much more in the long run. Why hire anyone other than the most qualified?

These policies are trying to correct an imbalance which is based on self selection rather than discrimination and are themselves discriminatory.

"Intel said it has established a $300 million fund to be used in the next three years to improve the diversity of the company’s work force, attract more women and minorities to the technology field and make the industry more hospitable to them once they get there. The money will be used to fund engineering scholarships and to support historically black colleges and universities."

To me the biggest part is the scholarships towards those who are historically economically left behind and helps give a push to break some cycles. Congrats to Intel for taking such a major step. You gotta hire the best you can, but if you can help improve the talent pool in the next generation then why not? A very generous and well placed offer. I just hope it gets used well and nets some good results.

Because "the most qualified" is an inherently biased proposition. The idea of an objective evaluation of that question is laughable on its face.

Bullshit. You can get away with that sophistry in other fields, but not tech. The compiler doesn't care about your feelings. Memory safety is not a social construct. GPU command pipes have finite bandwidth, even if you call them tools of the patriarchy.

In our field, skill is definitely subject to "objective evaluation", and some people are vastly more skilled than others. That's why tech is so problematic to social justice types: their usual techniques don't work, for mother nature cannot be fooled.

Even more laughable that objective differences in skill could be determined during an interview process. Especially when, unless they are watching for it, most interviewers generally hire people who are like themselves.

Why hire anyone other than the most qualified?

I once hired someone who was less qualified in the specific role over another candidate who was more qualified. I did this because I believed that the overall output would be improved; in this particular case, because some of the other team members would behave more professionally.

What about the 'most qualified' that don't happen to be the same race or gender as the interviewers, and are therefore discriminated against (even sub consciously), resulting in a less qualified but more 'culturally acceptable' candidate being chosen? The funding Intel is pushing includes training to prevent this.

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