Gender Representation in the IETF Nominating Committees
draft-knodel-nomcom-gender-representation-04

Network Working Group                                          M. Knodel
Internet-Draft                                                       NYU
Intended status: Informational                              T. Tarakiyee
Expires: 18 February 2027                                    Independent
                                                          17 August 2026

        Gender Representation in the IETF Nominating Committees
              draft-knodel-nomcom-gender-representation-04

Abstract

   This document extends the existing limit on nomcom representation by
   organization ([RFC8713], Section 4.17) so that not all voting members
   of the IETF Nominating Committee (nomcom) belong to the same gender.

About This Document

   This note is to be removed before publishing as an RFC.

   The latest revision of this draft can be found at
   https://mallory.github.io/nomcom-gender-representation/draft-knodel-
   nomcom-gender-representation.html.  Status information for this
   document may be found at https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-
   knodel-nomcom-gender-representation/.

   Source for this draft and an issue tracker can be found at
   https://github.com/mallory/nomcom-gender-representation.

Status of This Memo

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Copyright Notice

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   document authors.  All rights reserved.

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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Conventions and Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  Gender Representation in the IETF Nomcom  . . . . . . . . . .   3
   4.  Suggested Remedy  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     4.1.  Opt-in Pool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     4.2.  Reserved Seats  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     4.3.  Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     4.4.  Rationale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   5.  Privacy Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   6.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   7.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   8.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     8.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     8.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   Appendix A.  Acknowledgments  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8

1.  Introduction

   The nomcom is, in every functional sense, a hiring committee: it
   solicits candidates, reviews their qualifications, interviews them,
   and selects who will fill the IETF's most senior leadership roles.

   This document extends [RFC8713]'s limit on nomcom representation by
   organization to ensure no nomcom is ever composed of one gender.
   This is because the literature supports the claims that lack of
   gender diversity in hiring teams reinforces under representation of
   gender minorities in leadership positions and that lack of gender
   diversity in leadership perpetuates gender discrimination
   [Bohnet2016].

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   This document does not address the nomcom's comportment once seated.
   A future revision might extend [RFC8713] with conduct standards for
   non-discrimination, personal conflict of interest, and consistent
   candidate evaluation, drawing on precedent such as ICANN's Nominating
   Committee Code of Conduct [ICANNCoC].

2.  Conventions and Definitions

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
   "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in
   BCP 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all
   capitals, as shown here.

   "Dominant gender" means the gender held by the majority of eligible
   nomcom volunteers in a given year.  "Opt-in pool" means the pool
   defined in Section 4.1.

3.  Gender Representation in the IETF Nomcom

   [RFC8713] already limits nomcom representation by organization:
   Section 4.17 provides that no more than two voting volunteers may
   share the same primary affiliation.  This safeguard addresses one
   axis of nomcom capture and imbalance, but it does not address gender.

   The IETF considers influence and weaknesses in nomcom selection in
   [RFC8713].  The rationale for the two-per-organization limit, as
   documented in the "Oral Tradition" appendix of [RFC8713], is to avoid
   the appearance of improper bias in choosing IETF leadership: rather
   than defining precise rules for what counts as "affiliation," the
   IETF community relies on the honor and integrity of participants to
   make the limit work in practice.  Likewise, gender diversity in IETF
   leadership should be considered a community strengthening exercise
   insofar as gender diversity has been shown to lead to more
   productivity, creativity and reinforces a culture of respect and
   value for all participants.  If we consider the nomcom as a "team",
   it will itself benefit from having more gender diversity among its
   voting members.

   The nomcom itself conventionally asks candidates some form of the
   question, 'Describe your perspective on what diversity should mean
   for the IETF, and the degree to which existing IETF participation
   meets those expectations.  What have you done in the past to
   encourage participation by those who might otherwise not have
   considered engaging with the IETF?' implying diversity is regarded in
   the IETF.

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   To address gender representation in the IETF nomcom, at a minimum we
   can ensure that all voting members are not of the same gender.  All
   attempts to ensure gender representation in the nomcom should
   include: a. increase participation in the community from women and
   non-binary individuals so that the eligible pool is more gender
   diverse.  b. encourage eligible women and non-binary members of the
   community to accept selection to the nomcom.

   While the IETF does not routinely confirm the gender of volunteers,
   we have committed to improving gender diversity in the community by
   way of measuring it and identifying concrete steps to mitigate
   imbalance.

4.  Suggested Remedy

   Section 4.17 of [RFC8713] constrains nomcom composition by primary
   affiliation.  This document adds a second composition constraint,
   applied at the same point in the process, in the form of a stratified
   selection over two pools, a mixed gender pool and an opt-in non-
   dominant genders pool.

4.1.  Opt-in Pool

   An eligible volunteer MAY opt into a self-declared pool of volunteers
   who do not identify as members of the dominant gender (the "opt-in
   pool").  Membership in the opt-in pool is the only information
   disclosed.  Volunteers in the opt-in pool may also opt into the mixed
   gender pool.

4.2.  Reserved Seats

   Let n be the number of voting volunteer slots, p the size of the opt-
   in pool, and t the size of the mixed gender pool.  The number of
   reserved seats r is determined as follows:

   *  If p is 0, no seats are reserved, and the IETF community MUST be
      notified that all n voting volunteers may share one gender that
      year for this reason.

   *  Otherwise, r = min(p, max(3, min(floor(n/2), floor(n * p / t)))).

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4.3.  Selection

   The r reserved seats MUST be selected first, by an [RFC3797]
   selection over the published opt-in pool list.  The remaining n - r
   seats MUST then be selected by a second [RFC3797] selection over the
   general pool, excluding volunteers already selected.  Both selections
   MAY use the same publicly announced seed material and be conducted as
   a single ceremony.  The limit in Section 4.17 of [RFC8713] continues
   to apply across both selections.

4.4.  Rationale

   Each selection is an ordinary [RFC3797] draw over a list published in
   advance, and no seat is conditional on information absent from that
   list, so every seat remains independently verifiable.  A rule that
   skips candidates mid-draw does not have this property: it requires
   volunteers' genders to be known at selection time, which either
   breaks verifiability if that data is private or forces disclosure if
   it is not.

   The proportional cap ensures the mechanism never produces a
   composition the volunteer pool does not already support.  It removes
   the variance of a flat draw rather than adding preference.  The floor
   of three is deliberately super-proportional when the pool is skewed.
   The literature on tokenism finds that a lone minority member of a
   deliberative body carries a visibility burden and is treated as a
   category representative rather than as an individual [Kanter1977],
   and that this shifts at around three members KonradKramerErkut2008
   [Torchia2011].

   Stratified selection over declared strata is established practice in
   bodies constituted by lot [OECD2020], and compositional constraints
   are the norm rather than the exception among comparable nominating
   bodies: ICANN's Nominating Committee is constituted from designated
   seats [ICANNBylaws].

   This section would update Section 4.17 of [RFC8713].

5.  Privacy Considerations

   Serving on the nomcom is voluntary.  Public disclosure of one's
   gender and pronouns in the IETF Datatracker should remain voluntary.
   Disclosure of one's gender during meeting registration for the
   purposes of tracking communty diversity should remain voluntary and
   non-public.

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   Under Section 4, no volunteer is asked to state a gender, and no
   gender is inferred from pronouns used in mailing list discussion,
   recorded meetings, or the Datatracker.  The only disclosure is opt-in
   pool membership.

   Because [RFC3797] verifiability requires each pool to be published in
   advance, membership in the opt-in pool is public.  Volunteers MUST be
   told this at the point of declaration.  Gender data collected for
   community measurement, whether at meeting registration or in the
   Datatracker, MUST NOT be used to construct the opt-in pool.

6.  Security Considerations

   Self-declaration is not verified.  As with the affiliation limit in
   Section 4.17 of [RFC8713], the mechanism relies on the honour and
   integrity of participants rather than on precise rules.

7.  IANA Considerations

   This document has no IANA actions.

8.  References

8.1.  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2119>.

   [RFC3797]  Eastlake 3rd, D., "Publicly Verifiable Nominations
              Committee (NomCom) Random Selection", RFC 3797,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC3797, June 2004,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3797>.

   [RFC8174]  Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
              2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
              May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8174>.

8.2.  Informative References

   [Bohnet2016]
              Bohnet, I., "How to Take the Bias Out of Interviews",
              2016, <https://hbr.org/2016/04/how-to-take-the-bias-out-
              of-interviews>.

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   [ChildsKrook2008]
              Childs, S. and M. L. Krook, "Critical Mass Theory and
              Women's Political Representation", Political
              Studies 56(3), pp. 725-736, 2008,
              <https://mlkrook.org/pdf/childs_krook_2008.pdf>.

   [ICANNBylaws]
              ICANN, "ICANN Bylaws, Article 8, Section 8.2 (Nominating
              Committee composition)", 2024,
              <https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/governance/bylaws-
              en/#article8>.

   [ICANNCoC] ICANN, "ICANN Nominating Committee Background Information
              and Code of Conduct", 2018,
              <https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/nomcom2019-conduct-
              2018-12-07-en>.

   [Kanter1977]
              Kanter, R. M., "Some Effects of Proportions on Group Life:
              Skewed Sex Ratios and Responses to Token Women", American
              Journal of Sociology 82(5), pp. 965-990, 1977,
              <https://doi.org/10.1086/226425>.

   [KonradKramerErkut2008]
              Konrad, A. M., Kramer, V. W., and S. Erkut, "Critical
              Mass: The Impact of Three or More Women on Corporate
              Boards", Organizational Dynamics 37(2), pp. 145-164, 2008,
              <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2008.02.005>.

   [OECD2020] OECD, "Innovative Citizen Participation and New Democratic
              Institutions: Catching the Deliberative Wave", 2020,
              <https://doi.org/10.1787/339306da-en>.

   [RFC8713]  Kucherawy, M., Ed., Hinden, R., Ed., and J. Livingood,
              Ed., "IAB, IESG, IETF Trust, and IETF LLC Selection,
              Confirmation, and Recall Process: Operation of the IETF
              Nominating and Recall Committees", BCP 10, RFC 8713,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC8713, February 2020,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8713>.

   [RFC9389]  Duke, M., "Nominating Committee Eligibility", BCP 10,
              RFC 9389, DOI 10.17487/RFC9389, April 2023,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9389>.

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   [Torchia2011]
              Torchia, M., Calabro, A., and M. Huse, "Women Directors on
              Corporate Boards: From Tokenism to Critical Mass", Journal
              of Business Ethics 102, pp. 299-317, 2011,
              <https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-0815-z>.

Appendix A.  Acknowledgments

   Thanks to Martin Thomson and Suresh Krishnan for informed initial
   thoughts on bringing this idea to the community.

Authors' Addresses

   Mallory Knodel
   NYU
   Email: mallory.knodel@nyu.edu

   Tara Tarakiyee
   Independent
   Email: me@tarakiyee.com

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