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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!pesnta!pertec!kontron!cramer
From: cramer@kontron.UUCP (Clayton Cramer)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.social,net.women,net.flame
Subject: Re: Discrimination and Affirmative Action (in hi-tech)
Message-ID: <269@kontron.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 24-Jun-85 19:32:59 EDT
Article-I.D.: kontron.269
Posted: Mon Jun 24 19:32:59 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 26-Jun-85 05:47:09 EDT
References: <566@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP> <879@mnetor.UUCP> <394@mtxinu.UUCP> <593@ihu1h.UUCP> <408@mtxinu.UUCP>
Organization: Kontron Electronics, Irvine, CA
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Xref: watmath net.politics:9569 net.social:735 net.women:6065 net.flame:10760

> In article <593@ihu1h.UUCP> parnass@ihu1h.UUCP (Bob Parnass, AJ9S) writes:
> >[reference to my earlier posting suggesting that Asians might be better
> > off in the hi-tech workforce due to working harder]
> 
> >As a matter of fact, if I understand your last sentence, it seems to
> >erode your first conclusion (i.e., it's working hard that earns promotion).
> 
> There is a degree to which hard work earns promotions, but remember that
> I used the phrase "work *inordinately* harder".  I don't think that Asians
> do nearly as much better than other minorities to balance out the harder work.
> What I was suggesting is that through working much harder than members
> of the "establishment", they are able to get their representation in the
> work force up to about what it "should" be, just taking numbers of people
> of various races into account.
> 
> Since they *do* work so hard, I would suggest that rather than be adequately
> represented, they are still under-represented because they're more
> qualified and therefore should have more of the jobs.
> 
> -- 
> Ed Gould		    mt Xinu, 2910 Seventh St., Berkeley, CA  94710  USA
> {ucbvax,decvax}!mtxinu!ed   +1 415 644 0146

As a proportion to their number in the population, Asians are dramatically
overrepresented in all the companies I have ever worked for --- perhaps 200%
or 300% over their numbers in the population.  Mr. Gould seems to be 
arguing that they are underrepresented in comparision to their hard work.
Does he mean that Asians work 200% to 300% harder than white males?  This
is implausible, to say the least.

If anyone ever starts to impose affirmative action as vigorously as some
people seem to want, I suspect the first group to get cut back is going
to be Asians --- and we will all be the worse for it.