Assistant Professor of Economics @GPS_UCSD. Environment/Development. Alum: @GRI_LSE @CornellDyson @LafCol 
Views are my own. RT/likes ≠ endorsement.
You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more
#EconTwitter Why do we make candidates write #diversity statements? I won’t lie, I used to think they were annoying when I had to write them. But here’s why they matter. 0/5
1/ Because some day you will be making a hiring decision and you will comment that the female job market candidate wasn’t “confident enough” or “lost control of the room” after you bombarded her with 28 questions in the first 10 minutes.
2/ Because a queer candidate will present research on say the spread of HIV in the gay community and you will ask “how does this generalize?” and comment “it seems the research is narrow” and wonder out loud “is this even economics?”
3/ Because a black candidate will attempt to argue that air pollution uniquely affects black populations using the best possible but still coarse data and you will say “well, your data sucks so you shouldn’t have made this your central point - maybe focus on the overall pop?”
4/ Because a student will come to ask for an extension on an assignment because they had a mental health issue the day before and your initial instinct will be “we all have issues - get it done”.
5/ So I am sorry this is taking your time but if writing this thing gets you to think about these issues with care, then the social surplus that generates is worth it.
Good points. I've come to think about them like research statements - a way to think seriously for a bit about what and how I can contribute to diversity. Regardless of being on or off the market it is a useful exercise, just like explaining my research agenda.
Well said. My observations from university level meets is that under represented groups seem to be disproportionately assigned more service tasks as well.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.
