They’re apparently gung-ho about reducing the gender imbalance in engineering sciences at the University of Washington. According to this piece in today’s Inside Higher Ed, the university is launching an aggressive recruiting drive aimed at enticing female engineers to leave their careers in industry to come aboard academic engineering education programs. No males, evidently, need apply, since this is about “gender equity.” Our CEO friend Roger Clegg, who’s written eloquently and persuasively about the legal status of quota-based hiring policies of any variety, makes the quaint point in the comments thread that the program probably violates federal law.
Unfortunately, I think that another poster also has it right when he notes that the law has never troubled academic bureaucrats when they set their sights on one or another affirmative action target. I get the sinking feeling that “gender equity” is going to prevail here.
