It’s not just DOD.
Major Defense Contractors are asking this question in Management promotion interviews:
“What have you done to reward a subordinate for demonstrating a commitment to diversity?”
Well, now, it occurs to me that if you’re so bold as to DEFINE a specific person or group as being illustrative of “diversity”, you have just set yourself up to be accused of bigotry for noticing the “difference” in the first place.
I tried asserting that teams from 6 subcontractors were a “diverse group”, without being specific.
But the job went instead to a woman who had NEVER SUPERVISED, and therefore could NOT have had an answer for that question.
The simple fact is that the decision was made BEFORE THE INTERVIEWS.
This is a pattern, not an incident.
“It’s not just DOD.”
No kidding. I am trying to get hired teaching at a JC or university. All they care about is the “Diversity Statement.” In over 18 years, one question I have NEVER been asked when seeking a position in education is “What do you know.” Performance is so inconsequential to teaching; and we wonder whyy things are as they are.