On micro-inequities, grooming for elite talent and whether Gladwell was out to lunch

Female Science Professor’s recent post on the detrimental effects of a constant drip of micro-inequities as been receiving a great deal of appreciation. As well it should. It is brilliant because it jumps straight into the throat of the “you are just oversensitive” and “wah, wah, Political Correctness, wah” and “you are calling me an -ist over nothing” nonsense that is the battle cry of the NiceGuy who does not enjoy examining his privilege*.
What really drew my eye, however was this comment:

Among many points in Gladwell’s book is that the number of small advantages given to Canadian boys with certain birthdays in the hockey league leads to a professional hockey roster almost exclusively made up of men who have birthdays in certain months. He points this phenomenon out over and over again, in many different contexts – consistent small advantages, over time, lead to great advantages, perhaps even to great people, or “outliers”. Why, then, would the same not be true for any discriminated against group, in any field? I don’t understand why people are not open to this line of thinking, and are not open to asking themselves what they can do to try to help remedy these situations when they arise.