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

[Fernando Gont <[e-mail]>]

Hi, Brian,

On 24/11/23 16:43, Brian E Carpenter wrote:
> Fernando,
> 
> On 25-Nov-23 07:38, Fernando Gont wrote:
> ...
>> However,I'm struck that this angle/axis is the only one that seems to be
>> on the radar.  Tip: One could as easily ensure that there's one nominate
>> from each region, and that there also be a nominee from academia,
>> and....  is there a reason why these couldn´t be quiclky added rather
>> than disregarded?
> 
> Your first message was delayed in the network, so maybe you also missed
> the earlier discussion. Today, randomisation is the *main* guarantee of
> diversity in the NomCom. 

Randomization won't help diversity well when you randomize from a 
non-diverse pool.



> The issue is that if we included bias for
> multiple axes in the algorithm, the problem becomes over-constrained
> to the extent that the result is more or less pre-defined. If you get
> to the point that the next pick must be a female with an academic job
> who lives in the South Pacific, there would probably be only one (or
> likely zero) such person among the volunteers, so the randomisation
> would produce no effect.

I don't mean intersection of such axis.  e.g., is it too much to expect 
some bias such that the nomcom includes a member that is either from 
academia or non-profit??
Similarly, would it be too much to have one from an unrepresented region 
(e.g., Latinamerica OR africa)?



> Biasing the randomisation in favour of the largest under-represented
> minority in the volunteer pool makes sense to me, and that's probably
> gender.

FWIW, I'm not arguing against that. I'm arguing that it wouldn't be 
difficult to modify the process such that the outcome is more diverse 
than simply someone from a large corporation from the USA or Europe, or 
from a prominent vendor from Asia.

It'd definitely be great to have better gender diversity. But not so 
great that the bias were still in favor of well-funded ietfers from 
corporations from a small set of countries.

Thanks!

Cheers,
-- 
Fernando Gont
e-mail: [e-mail]
PGP Fingerprint: 6666 31C6 D484 63B2 8FB1 E3C4 AE25 0D55 1D4E 7492