Gender Bias

Federal Law makes it illegal for employers to make hiring and firing decisions based on any form of delineated discrimination including gender. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 covers gender discrimination and extends it to decisions about promotions and compensations. The Equal Pay Act requires employers to pay women and men the same for comparable work. These precepts have long been established. The question is how do we organize and put together a workforce that can compete in a sophisticated global market.

Employers need skilled workers to gain a competives edge over their competitors. Whether these skilled workers are men or women does not carry great weight when recruiting for the best. What does matter is can they do the required job at the highest level? The number one goal should be to gather a skilled diverse workforce with the ability to succeed based on skills, aptitudes and experience rather than superficial attributes such as gender. Competent employers should design a scientific system which relies on empirical data, there by giving rise to a numerical ranking system which ensures the best candidates are selected based on their ability to perform not based on appearance. Basing employment selection on gender is both counterproductive as well as patronizing for the person that is being artificially being helped.

Although the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the EEOC oversees and enforces laws which prevent gender discrimination, they have made it clear that gender can not be the only factor considered when making hiring decisions. According to the EEOC applicants still need to prove they are qualified for the jobs. Why not start with that premise?

Albeit gender discrimination does exist in the world and has been particularly documented many times in the workplace, it behooves us as a nation not to base selection of any kind solely on appearance. When how a person looks is the determining fact in employment selection decisions we will...