I was moved to send this anecdote by seeing this on FP, on misguided diversity efforts:
About 6 or 7 years ago I was asked to serve on a thesis committee for a thesis submitted to a Swedish University. Apparently there are quotas, so some percentage of women are required for these committees. The thesis had a nontrivial overlap with my own work. Anyway, on the day, the candidate gave their presentation and then there was a break, when one of the other committee members came up to me and said “Thanks for doing this! I hope you didn’t spend time actually reading the thesis?”
Not sure what the fellow meant there…
What is it like to be a woman in philosophy? 