There's a typical pattern of conversation that I've witnessed too many times. It goes like this:
Administrator: Of course, we are firmly pledged to hire more women and minorities in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields, but we can't, because they are all being snapped up by the top schools.
Response: In fact, that isn't true. The top schools aren't really doing that, or at least not in all fields. E.g., the top 50 Chemistry departments hired one African American between the late 90's and early 2000's.
Administrator: Well, I guess then there aren't any good ones.
What's this conversation tell us?
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