This is why I do not believe people when they say &quot;I hire people solely on the basis of ability&quot; as an argument against making any efforts towards equality or equal representation.<p>I don&#x27;t think (many) people are willfully biased, but every study bears out that bias exists. Make selection blind to race, sex, etc., and the results are different. Orchestras switched to blind interviews and hiring profiles changed dramatically. Suddenly females and minorities were rated higher and got more job offers.<p>Its sad, but true, that we have this unconscious bias and we need to fix it. I don&#x27;t discount the conscious biases that clearly exist, I&#x27;m just saying a claim of &quot;I&#x27;m not biased, my hiring is fair&quot; needs to be backed up with data, not assertions.