The front page of the March 6 Minnesota Daily included an article highlighting the discrepancy between male and female faculty members in the College of Science and Engineering. In the past, other articles have suggested that ethnic minorities are underrepresented in general across the University of Minnesota at the faculty level. I don’t dispute either of these statements.

The trouble is that we are now openly calling for equal results, not equal opportunity — that is, quotas, which are supposed to be illegal. Nowhere in the article does it mention how many qualified female applicants are being turned away from CSE or anywhere else in the University.  Surely this is a relevant point to take into account when analyzing minority hires as well.

Are these groups being conspired against? Or is it just possible that despite sociologists’ best efforts to convince us otherwise, everyone is not the same as everyone else. Should we really expect exactly the same results amongst all groups in every occupation despite huge demographic gaps in education, experience and basic biology?  

This isn’t to suggest that any individual person should be discouraged from pursuing anything they choose. A determined person can accomplish near anything, and, of course, there are people of all gender identities and races capable of doing all things, but that doesn’t mean that it’s realistic to expect equal results amongst hugely diverse cultural groups.