The Diversity Factor © 2009
ISSN 1545-2808
Summer 2009
Barriers Continue to Block Advancement
Volume 17, Number 3

News, Views and Gossip

Written by Caitlin Kelly

American Woman Wins Nobel Prize in Economics

It looks like Larry Summers was wrong. As president of Harvard, he caused an uproar when he suggested women can't excel at math and science. That was then; this is now. In the past month, a number of women have won the Nobel Prize in science, chemistry and economics. Two of these women were American, including the biggest breakthrough—Dr. Elinor Ostrom at Indiana University, 76, who became the first woman to receive the economics prize. She won it for her work in the social sciences describing the numerous relationships within a company or among companies and individuals that shape market behavior. The other American was Dr. Carol W. Greider of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, who won the Nobel Prize in science for her research on telomeres (caps at the ends of chromosomes that hold them together.)
—The New York Times, October 13, 2009

Cambridge Confrontation Leads to Race-Oriented Conversation in the White House

A heated confrontation between Boston police sergeant James Crowley, who is white, and Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, who is black and was arrested outside his home for apparently trying to break into it, resulted in a shared-beer sit-down with President Obama in late July that many hoped would set an example of talking difficult interracial incidents through. "These things work because people start to view each other as another human and not a person of a different race," said Beverley Wright, chairwoman of the Dallas Dinner Table, a nonprofit that fosters discussions centering on race over a shared meal. Vice President Joe Biden also attended the meeting.
—The Wall Street Journal, July 31, 2009

Sotomayor Sworn in as First Hispanic Supreme Court Justice

Sonia Sotomayor became the U.S. Supreme Court's newest justice on Saturday August 8—becoming the first Hispanic justice and third woman to serve on the court in its 220-year history. She took the second of two oaths of office from Chief Justice John Roberts in an ornate conference room on a Bible that was held by her mother, Celina. She took the first oath in a private ceremony in the justices' private conference room.
—The Associated Press, August 10, 2009

U.S. Supreme Court Upsets Firefighter Ruling

The firefighters hoped to win promotions, competing for seven spots for captain and eight for lieutenant. Fifty-six passed the test, 15 of them black or Hispanic. But superiors, seeing that only two were likely to be promoted, threw out all the results; a 1988 lawsuit over another such test had left them fearful of more legal action, according to another New York Times story.

The firefighters took a written exam instead of using an assessment center that measures applicants' leadership and communications skills and their ability to handle emergencies.

"With the court's ruling making it harder for cities and other employers to throw out tests they conclude are unfair, employers are expected to make sure their written tests — and indeed their entire selection process — are fair," writes Steven Greenhouse.

"The ruling gives employers less flexibility to change the selection process once it's established," said Katharine Parker, a lawyer with Proskauer Rose who is chairwoman of the Labor and Employment Committee of the New York City Bar Association. "As a result, employers will want to establish bulletproof criteria."
—The New York Times, July 1, 2009

Having Interracial Roommates Can Reduce Bias

Interracial roommates can reduce campus bias, reports Tamar Lewin. "If you're surrounded by whites, you have something to prove," said Sam Boakye, a senior at Ohio State University who was born in Ghana.

Russell H. Fazio, an Ohio State psychology professor who has studied interracial roommates, analyzed data on thousands of Ohio State freshmen in dorms and found that black freshmen who arrived at college with high scores on standardized tests got better grades if they had a white roommate, even one with low test scores.

A study at Duke University found that freshmen with roommates of a different race were the most likely to diversify their friendships.
—The New York Times, July 9, 2009

Study Shows All Shoppers Favor White Male Salespeople

Some shoppers might need to examine their racial prejudices, a new report suggests. The study, to be published in The Academy of Management Journal, divided 86 college students into three groups. They showed each group one of three video clips of an employee-customer encounter at a bookstore. Everything was identical: script, setting, camera angles — except for the sales clerk's identity: a white woman in one clip, a black man in a second and a white man in the third. While there were substantial numbers of women and nonwhites in each group, students nonetheless rated the white man's performance highest.

"The findings suggest that the customer is always wrong," said David R. Hekman, the study's lead author and an assistant professor of management at the University of Wisconsin. "Everyone – white, black, men, women – think the white man is more valuable. Someone needs to call customers out on their biases."
—The New York Times, June 23, 2009

Sikhs Become Buckingham Palace Guards

Guards wearing those famous bearskin hats outside Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London have a new addition – colleagues in turbans. Signaler Simranjit Singh and Lance Cpl. Sarvit Singh (Sikh men share that surname), are the first Sikhs to take part in patrols outside the queen's residence and watch over her jewels in the Tower. There are 90 Sikhs in Britain's army. "It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Sarvit Singh, 28. "I feel privileged to have this honor."
—The Associated Press, July 31, 2009

Niche Magazines Prosper

While traditional newspapers and magazines have been hit hard by the recession and declining advertising revenues, one niche of the industry is thriving – those catering to ethnic groups, reports Tara Bahrampour. A poll this spring by San Francisco-based New America Media found consumption of ethnic media growing. "In terms of audience, the interest has never been higher," said Sandip Roy, an editor there. The group represents 2,000 ethnic news organizations.
—The Washington Post weekly, July 27-August 2

Malaysia Loosens Ethnic Preference Rules for Corporate Ownership

Malaysia finally struck down a 40-year-old system of ethnic preferences, a new policy that would severely weaken the requirement that companies reserve 30 percent of their shares for ethnic Malays, the country's dominant ethnic group. Malaysia has long given ethnic Malays and members of other indigenous ethnic groups – called bumiputra, or sons of the soil – political and economic privileges. These include discounts on houses and scholarships. Some benefits, such as government contracts and stock market allocations, have been beyond the reach of working-class Malays.
—The New York Times, July 1, 2009

India Takes a Step Toward Equal Rights for Gays

India struck down Section 377, a 149-year-old law, in early July, ruling gay sex legal between consenting adults. Gay activists hailed the decision by the Delhi High Court as a historic step in their ongoing battle for equal rights in a deeply conservative society that largely regards homosexuality as a taboo illness.

Homosexuality had been illegal in India since 1860 under a statute introduced by British colonial rulers. Conviction carried a fine and a maximum 10-year jail sentence.

The ruling is non-binding outside of the Indian capital of New Delhi, leaving the government the choice of appealing to India's Supreme Court or repealing the law nationwide.

Ashok Row Kavi, who has campaigned widely for gay rights since the 1970s, was jubilant at being "free from extortion, violence and blackmail from the police, free from discrimination and free to access all health services."

Access to health care — to treat HIV infection and AIDS — has been a key issue for homosexuals in India. "Gay men who had to deal with harassment, prejudice and extortion felt they couldn't seek help and had to hide their health problems because gay sex was illegal," Nitin Karani, editor-at-large of the Bombay Dost, a gay magazine in Mumbai, told The Wall Street Journal.
— Agence France-Presse, July 2, 2009

New Mosque Built to Attract Muslims to British Columbia

If you build it, they will come—not a baseball field, but a mosque.

The northern British Columbia city of Prince George, with about 70,000 inhabitants (only 6 percent of whom, according to the 2001 census, are visible minorities), hopes the multimillion-dollar cultural and educational center will draw Muslim professionals to an area long dominated by the forestry industry.

"For years, the city has watched Muslim doctors, professors and engineers reject offers to settle in Prince George because the city had no mosque," reports Jane Armstrong. "A plastic surgeon from Africa checked out the city but moved to Ontario. An orthopedic surgeon from Pakistan chose the U.K. over Prince George. For the city's roughly 200 Muslim families, the situation was dire."

The idea came from Ibrahim Karidio, 44, a local forestry researcher, who moved to Canada from Niger in 1984. "Time after time, Muslim professionals told him that the city's lack of a mosque was a deal-breaker during recruitment negotiations."

Construction began in early June, using the services of an architect from Vancouver, 500 miles south. The projected cost is between $1.5 and $2 million (Canadian), and about $500,000 has been raised from private donors across the province. The rest, Karidio hopes, will come from public funds, The second phase of construction will include a library, recreational center and day-care center, which non-Muslims will be encouraged to use as well.
—The Globe and Mail, June 10, 2009

Racial and Ethnic Disparities Persist in Medical Field

While some minority residents of New York might prefer to see a physician of their own race or ethnicity, they're still largely out of luck, says a study released by the University of Albany's Center for Health Workforce Studies. "Even with more minorities moving into the state, few gains were seen in the number of minorities entering the health profession," reports the Albany Times-Union.

Minorities represent only 9.5 percent of doctors in the state. "Having a diverse health work force, we believe, is important, and there's a lot of research to support that belief," said the center's director, Jean Moore.

The Medical Society of the State of New York has a task force devoted to eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care. It recently received a grant from Pfizer to participate in the American Medical Association's Doctors Back to School Program, which sends physicians to middle and high school students to talk to them and encourage them to pursue a medical career. The group is also trying to get a grant to teach doctors cultural competence.
— timesunion.com, March 29, 2009Δ

April Klimley also contributed to this column.