Re: [Eligibility-discuss] [Gendispatch] New Version Notification for draft-knodel-nomcom-gender-representation-00.txt

[Eric Rescorla <[e-mail]>]

On Thu, Nov 23, 2023 at 11:29 AM Brian E Carpenter <
[e-mail]> wrote:

> On 24-Nov-23 06:18, Eric Rescorla wrote:
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Nov 22, 2023 at 10:45 PM Michael StJohns <[e-mail]
> <mailto:[e-mail]>> wrote:
> >
> >
> >     We pick randomly, and with the exception of the 2 person per org
> limit,
> >     any volunteer has an equal weight in being selected.  If you believe
> >     some group is underrepresented in the pool, the solutions is to
> recruit
> >     members of that group to volunteer.
> >
> >
> > There are two distinct issues:
> >
> > 1. Whether women are sufficiently represented in the nomcom selection
> pool.
> > 2. Whether women are sufficiently represented in a given nomcom.
>
> But, over time, these issues are *not* distinct and that is why Mallory's
> proposal is IMHO highly desirable:
>
> Having women *consistently* present in NomCom will have a subtle long
> term effect, by persuading women that it's worth volunteering for NomCom.
> And that will have a further long term effect in persuading women that
> they should participate in the IETF (which is our underlying problem).
>
> This is indeed something we should have done years ago. Visible
> diversity enhances diversity.
>
> > As Christian (and I earlier) noted, because the nomcom itself is quite
> small,
> > it is possible for women to be very underrepresented in a given nomcom
> > with respect to the underlying pool. You may believe that's not an issue,
> > but to the extent to which it is an issue, I don't think "try to get
> more women
> > into the pool" is a plausible response to that issue.
>
> What I think my argument shows is that we have a feedback loop, and
> Mallory's proposal is the easiest way of inserting an amplifier in
> that loop.
>

Hi Brian,

I largely agree with your analysis here. The point I was trying to make was
that even in the absence of such a feedback loop, if you think it's
important
to have women on the nomcom, then "let's try to get more women into the
pool" is not a sufficient response.

-Ekr