From: hillyard@lynx.msc.cornell.edu.UUCP (Sean Edward Hillyard,F7 Clark,50649,)
Newsgroups: sci.research.careers
Subject: Stigma was Re: Hiring quotas and faculty positions
Date: 13 Sep 92 21:57:54 GMT
Organization: Cornell-Materials-Science-Center
Originator: hillyard@msc2.msc.cornell.edu

From article <1992Sep12.040621.19970@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>, by rsanders@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (RRobert M Sanders):
[...]
> been male).  I was hired by a department as the token minority, to serve as the
> "role model for american students."  My experience was very depressing, as no 
> one took me seriously as a scholar (since no non-native could ever know as much
> as a native), and hence trivialized my scholarly contributions to the 
> department.  Most of my colleagues were very patronizing to me on the scholarly
> level, while at the same time praising me as a role model for American 
> students.  When push came to shove the department decided to let me go early 
> because in their judgement my work was insignificant (since this decision was 
> reached before my sixth year they were under no obligation to send my work out 
> for peer review).  Thus when i see arguments like "role model" I can only think
[...]

I think you are the norm.

From the _Ithaca Journal_ sep 1, 92 without permission
_____________
Affirmative action carries stigma
  by Julia Lawlor
  Gannett News Service

People believed to be hired through affirmative action programs carry a 
stigma of incompetence no matter how qualified they are for the job, 
according to a new study.

"This is beyond racism, beyond sexism," said study co-author Madeline 
Heilman of New Yord University.

Affirmative-action programs began in the 1960's as a means of creating
equal opportunity in the workplace.  Companies doing business with the
federal government were required to hire a certain percentage of women
and minorities.

But, said Heilman, affirmative action has assumed a negative connotaion
for many who regard it as a system of fulfilling hiring quotas without
regard to a person's ability.

Such an attitude has the potential to stigmatize all women and minorities,
she said, unless their employers make clear they are qualified.

In the first part of the study, researchers asked college students to
evaluate a resume of a white man or a white woman applying for one of
two jobs--electrician or hospital lab technician.  Some women applicants
were identified as affirmative action hires.

Researchers found that the white males and the white non-affirmative action
females were seen as equally qualified for the lab technician's job.
The affirmative-action females were judged to be the least qualified.

For the electrician's job, men were judged more competent than women.
but women with the affirmative action label were believed, again, to be 
the least qualified.

"In situations where women typically are discriminated against," said
Heilman, "being associated with affirmative action makes it worse.  And
in situations where the women wouldn't be discriminated against, it
creates a problem."

In the second part of the study, white male workers in New York and
Chicago were asked to evaluate one of their colleagues working in a
job not traditionally held by women or minorites.  The greater the role
affirmative action was thought to play in hiring, the less competent the
person was perceived to be.

Dispite findings, affirmative action programs should not be scrapped,
said Heilman.  Instead, she said, managers sould take care to hire and
promote only qualified candidates, and should make clear to employees
that standards are not compromised.

The stigma of affirmative action, said Roosevelt Thomas, president of
the American Institute for Managing Diversity, is devastating not just
to the individuals, but to corporations struggling to stay competitive.

"When you place a stigma on somebody, you're saying you believe this
individual has limited ability," said Thomas.  And that, he said, often
becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."
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Xref: sparky sci.research.careers:981 soc.culture.canada:6465