Racial/geographic divide in career selection

I have noticed that in the age of the internet, in terms of self-selection and company recruiting the divide is still big. Both at my school and the country at large, I've noticed that Asians usually go to the west coast and pursue tech and Jews choose to go to NYC to do banking. Also, companies still recruit by geographic division. Why is this still the case with the internet?

12 Comments
 

There are a bunch of factors that play into choosing a job. A huge one is geographic location.

There are a LOT of Asians on the west coast and a LOT of Jews on the east coast. As a Jew living in NYC, it's really nice to have a community and feel normalized. I don't know how I would feel living in the Midwest, even if I had a great job opportunity there.

 
aassddff

There are a bunch of factors that play into choosing a job. A huge one is geographic location.

There are a LOT of Asians on the west coast and a LOT of Jews on the east coast. As a Jew living in NYC, it's really nice to have a community and feel normalized. I don't know how I would feel living in the Midwest, even if I had a great job opportunity there.

Chicago and the surrounding suburbs has a massive Jewish community.

heister: Look at all these wannabe richies hating on an expensive salad. https://arthuxtable.com/
 

That's definitely true, but I think it's more of an exception. I only mentioned the Midwest offhandedly to explain that I feel comfortable living in an area that best reflects my culture.

 
aassddff

There are a bunch of factors that play into choosing a job. A huge one is geographic location.

There are a LOT of Asians on the west coast and a LOT of Jews on the east coast. As a Jew living in NYC, it's really nice to have a community and feel normalized. I don't know how I would feel living in the Midwest, even if I had a great job opportunity there.

that's a very good explanation, but I've found that most Asians from other parts of the country other than the west coast also end up in tech. Maybe a natural proclivity for CS?
 
Best Response
artofwar aassddff:

There are a bunch of factors that play into choosing a job. A huge one is geographic location.

There are a LOT of Asians on the west coast and a LOT of Jews on the east coast. As a Jew living in NYC, it's really nice to have a community and feel normalized. I don't know how I would feel living in the Midwest, even if I had a great job opportunity there.

that's a very good explanation, but I've found that most Asians from other parts of the country other than the west coast also end up in tech. Maybe a natural proclivity for CS?

I would hesitate to use the word "natural". Cultural, sure, but I think natural is pushing it. I understand where you're coming from, though.

The Chinese language is hypothesized to promote skills in mathematics. If you look at how you count in Chinese versus English, you have to learn less words to count higher in Chinese than in English. A lot of researchers think that the language plays a significant role in China's aptitude for technical areas of study. It's interesting to think about.

 

I don't think you can really say that any race is naturally inclined toward CS. I think it's mostly the International Asian students who end up on the west coast in Tech just because they were brought up in an educational system that strongly stressed math. As a second generation Asian, I can confirm a lack of a natural proclivity for CS.

I also think the living a region that reflects your culture isn't necessarily true. Most of my friends aren't particularly drawn to the East Coast because they're Jewish, they're drawn by the jobs and my friends who are drawn to the west coast are motivated by the lifestyle/weather and jobs as well. I actually grew up in a state straddling midwest/west and my hometown is 30% Jewish.

 
ilikecake

as an asian jew, it makes sense that I'm in Chicago.

unicorn detected So how'd that happen?
heister: Look at all these wannabe richies hating on an expensive salad. https://arthuxtable.com/
 

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