[pyre]

If he had decided to give preference to (e.g.) Syrian refugees because he felt a sense of wanting to help, would you have the same response? If he gave preference to a veteran out of Patriotism or an ex-con out of a belief in "second chances" would you have the same reaction?

[mtrpcic]

Yes, I would have had the same reaction. This is a great way to put a false limit on your potential talent pool. I'm not saying that adding programs or policies to add outreach to specific communities that are under-represented in your organization is bad. I'm saying that setting a hard-and-fast rule that your next hires must fit a particular trend to "balance the team" is a great way to frustrate your recruiting team (either internal or external), slow team growth to an unpredictable crawl, and will cause you to pass over potentially excellent candidates for the wrong reasons. The statement quoted by OP essentially equates to "the candidate had the wrong genitals at the wrong time", which is an absolutely absurd way to think about hiring. I would say the same thing about any of your counter-examples (e.g. to your Syrian Refugee example, "We won't be hiring you right now, because you're not a refugee from the right place" would be a rejection reason if you were trying to "balance the team" via preferential hiring treatment)

[ben_jones]

It's interesting that you brought up the hiring of veterans in IT. It's actually a real thing for many defense contractors and government agencies to give preference to former military members even in cases where they may be less qualified (citation needed).

[apineda]

Interesting argument. So you are equating being born the female sex the same as being a war time refugee, war veteran or ex-con? Could you explain that analogy a little better?

[pyre]

I was just presenting other situations where an employer might give someone hiring preference.

Is it just the idea that someone was getting hiring preference that isn't 100% tied to skills that is the issue? Or is it specifically because it was women that were getting hiring preference?

[m_mueller]

It wasn't phrased that way though. If he did that, would he 'hire Syrian refugees until they represent 50% of the team'?