Yes, but Discrimination Works the Other Way, Too

I read “How to Find a Federal IT Job” on page 42 of the February 13th, 2006 issue of Federal Computer Weekly. It was written by Lily Whiteman, who is the author of “Get Hired! How to Land the Ideal Federal Job and Negotiate a Top Salary,” and a Treasury Department career coach. Her website is www.Get-Hired.biz.

I was surprised to see the statement, “To cultivate the next generation of leaders, the federal government is increasing its recruitment of students, recent graduates, minorities and women.”

The distinction of sub-categories of people is irrelevant for the theme of the article. Why break out these groups, and then specifically not include white, middle-aged, males? Either don’t break out the groups, or include everbody. Otherwise the message is that the government IT community does not believe white middle-aged males can be leaders.