Have you ever been on a search committee ? What do you do with Diversity Statements ?
These seem to have become a routine requirement for academic job applicants these days, but HOW do they affect hiring decisions ? I think I understand the intent, but I'm unconvinced there's any way such a simple-minded approach is going to accomplish much of a positive nature. OK, maybe people who are earnestly committed to diversity and/or have a dramatic life story to tell might be advantaged by this process, but so might drama queens and glib liars, especially if you think you can always tell the difference. Is the process even *meant* to accomplish anything beyond being *seen* to be trying to do something about a problem which is actually too extensive and too ramified to be much altered by any such simple methods ?
Call me cynical. 
But if there's some wisdom in the process that's not immediately obvious to the uninitiated, please share it.
