But I can see how a “pollynkorect” person like yourself might have difficulty understanding that, and might have different views on what’s “appropriate.” (Hint: Your deliberately being a dick about efforts to end discrimination—that’s inappropriate.)

Having said that, I can see your classmate’s point of view. I agree in encouraging minorities to apply. However, I strongly disagree with preferential treatment towards minorities due to the fact they are minorities. When I see ‘preference given to minorities’ in a job description, I find that downright discriminating. If two applicants from different demographics apply for the same job, it should be given to the person with the best qualifications. Anything else than that is discrimination.

It wasn’t until I met enough of them that I could really differentiate in my own mind what I could attribute to the huge differences in culture and what I should attribute to personality that this changed. I’m sure I made life more difficult for some of them with my behavior, but I feel that with their help I now can identify and understand these cultural differences (in those that have joined our workplace since).

I wish it didn’t have to be that way, but I grew up in a white town where I didn’t realize Hispanics were a minority and I seldom met any other races/ethinicities. So I could definitely understand why a minority wouldn’t want to be the “first” – but do know that some of us with priviledge are aware of our ignorance and anxious to learn.

As to the women end of things, I don’t blink at it. I know I’m at a disadvantage with a female name and I cope by trying to be better than the average male. I don’t like it, but I can’t say those words change my feelings about it at all as I look at that phrase as a “politically correct” thing rather than actually meaningful.

However, whether this means women and minorities really ARE encouraged to apply is another question. I’ve said this before, but my department had zero female faculty members for the first 3 years I was here, and still has no minorities (though this is in large part because there truly are very few minorities in my field at any level). Across my field as a whole, women dominate at the student (UG, MS, and PhD) and entry-level job levels, but the tenure-track and senior scientist positions are still predominantly held by men. Women are gradually being hired at higher rates, but there still are subtle (and not-so-subtle) cases of discrimination; one extremely highly qualified female colleague was recently turned down for a TT position (where she would have been the first woman TT professor) because she “wasn’t the right fit.”