> A low DEI score might not tank your application if you're in a field where everyone else has a low DEI score, or if you are absolutely outstanding in your field but have middling DEI because you're a white, male scientist from an affluent background who hasn't done much in that sense, you might still prevail.
How can you write something like that, which shows that you 100% understand that this is racism, and then finish with:
My DEI statement was exclusively about helping students who arrived at college without sufficient academic preparation to succeed: helping first-gen students navigate their freshman year, making sure naive students know how to think about weeder courses, volunteering at high schools to help with college prep, etc.
I'm a white straight male and my DEI statement did not mention ethnicity or gender.
I was consistently told it was one of the best DEI statements the faculty had ever read.
I have no doubt that DEI statements get used in ridiculous and stupid ways; Academia is full of ridiculous and stupid things and that's why I left. But they do get used well at some institutions.
the key question is not your race but whether you've had involvement in issues related to dei. white people can get high dei scores. black people can get low dei scores. it's not racism?
> white, male scientist from an affluent background
Instead of "white people can get high dei scores". Anyway this discussion always end with a Motte-and-bailey fallacy. You say something obviously racist, I call you out on it and then you retreat to a defensible argument. The only real way to fix it is to vote for people willing to fix it. Not to argue with Internet strangers about it.
It's a wonder how some people manage to get out of their bed every day without taking issue with their sheets, and the pillows, and the mattress, and the sunlight, and the noise from outside...
They were just responding to the parent comment when they said that, which really did make it sound like your dei score was based on your demographic. I am kind of with you on being skeptical about how demographic-based it really is, since if rich kids at Harvard couldn't max out their score by doing the right after school activities the system would never be allowed to operate.
How can you write something like that, which shows that you 100% understand that this is racism, and then finish with:
> The fuss about it is overblown.