just recruit quality and that will come in all sorts of racial or sexes
Nutty said it right.
A real life example for you....involing a US Navy Command made up mostly of Civilians but a significant part of the Navy in its function.
Fellow Special Agent, Female/White/Heterosexual/Partnered but not Married.....conducting an Applicant Background Check on a White/Female/Single who interviewed well, was more than qualified based upon education, language skills, advanced degree in Accounting, was not partnered and self reported as having no Boyfriend/Fiance/Significant Other.
Consider this was still in the time period when you were Straight or. ineligibe for employment or retention.
The Agent did not like the fact the Applicant was not involved in any way with a Fella.....nothing in her investigation revealed anything derogatory in any manner...quite the opposite.
The Agent voiced her concerns about this and indicated she was going to make an issue of that in her report but suggest the Applicant not be considered for Hiring.
When I asked what evidence she had that indicated the possibility the young Lady was a Lesbian....which in plain language is what she was being accused of by the Agent......the reply was only along the lines of "She does not have a Boy Friend or any evidence of having been involved with a Boyfriend.
I reminded her that in the rural part of South, in small communities, there were occasions where really motivated young people focused upon their education and often times came from families with a strong religious faith, and perhaps considering all of that and the voluminous information contained in the Background Investigation that just perhaps that might be the kind of person the Applicant was.
I also suggested that a young Woman that was not promiscuous before marriage might just be a person with high moral standards founded upon her upbringing and unless she had something that pointed to and confirmed her "suspicions".....she would be far better served just to report her findings as they actually were....but if she really felt she was correct then she best get her ass out of the office and into the field and find information to prove herself right.
That young Woman made a fine Agent, wound up working important Fraud Cases, and I never got a Christmas Card since from the Agent doing her background investigation.
Eliminating prejudice and bias from a recruiting system is hard but that should be the goal.....not quotas or percentages or a hand on the scale to achieve either.....but making the system blind to anything that has nothing to do with ability, education, character, and motivation by the Applicant.
When sitting on Applicant Review Boards I tried hard to look beyond the physical, other. than the necessary physical ability to perform the requirements of the job, and look for the more important aspects of the Candidate.
In Army terms....my evaluation went along the lines of would I like to have that person in a Foxhole or Cockpit with me and could I depend upon them to meet the demands of the situation.