White and male are not necessarily disqualifying, if one is also gay.

Please note that in many institutions, being a woman and/or a “person of color” can be more than offset by being overtly conservative or Christian. Observant Jews also have a hard time, but for some reason, observant–even militant–Muslims are actively recruited.

Which begs the question of an Hispanic Lesbian who is also a Republican and devout Roman Catholic.

publius: Ditto. But even if you do find out that there’s an in-house favorite, you’re still going to waste your time. Who knows? The favorite might self-destruct (or die).

Ralph: Yeah, it’s interesting that such considerations weren’t mentioned—or even hinted at—in the article, given the central role they play in the selection process.

What I don’t get is this. Wheaton College is a Christian college. That means it is looking for faculty members with a strong academic dossier and a strong Christian commitment. But which matters more? If it came down to a choice, one would hope, I think, that the position would go to the candidate with the strongest Christian commitment but only the second strongest academic potential, rather than the candidate with the strongest academic potential but only the second strongest Christian commitment. But the whole tone of the article makes it sound as though the selection committee within that particular department at Wheaton would favor academic credentials over Christian commitment. Why else, e.g., would they have eliminated three-quarters of the applicants before those applicants even had a chance to respond to the in-depth essay questions on the full application?

In my humanistic discipline, a male applicant is simply doomed if there is a female applicant.

End of story, thanks for playing.