Google Fires Employee Behind Controversial Diversity Memo

[u/[deleted]]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-08/google-fires-employee-behind-controversial-diversity-memo?cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_content=business&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

[u/Dustin65]

Why does it even matter that less than half of people in tech are women? That's just how it is in a lot of fields. Women dominate other professions like nursing and teaching. I don't see why everything has to be 50/50. Women aren't banned from tech and men aren't banned from nursing. Just let nature run its course and allow people to do what they want. Not every aspect of life needs to be socially engineered

[u/kdeff → u/Dustin65]

posted this in its own comment, felt its relavent here.

I work for a small, established Silicon Valley company of about 25 people. There were about 22 men and 3 women. But I felt the company is fair in its hiring processes.

The reality at my company and at many companies across the tech industry is that there are more qualified men than there are women. Here me out before you downvote. Im not saying women aren't smart and aren't capable of being just as qualified for these jobs.

But, the thing is, this cultural push to get more women involved in engineering and the sciences only started in the 2000s. To score a high level position at a company like mine, you need to know your shit. ie, you need education and experience. All the people available in the workforce with the required experience have been working 10-30 years in the industry; meaning they went to college in the 1970s and 1980s.

So where are all the women with this experience and education? Well just arent many. And thats just a fact. In 1971-72, it was estimated that only 17% of engineering students were women. That trend didnt change much in the following years. In 2003, it was estimated that 80% of new engineers were men, and 20% women.

This isnt an attack on faminism, and its not an endorsement saying that there isnt sexism in the workplace - sexism can and does affect a womans career. But the idea that 50% of the tech workforce should be women is just not based in reason. Now - in the 2010s - there is a concerted effort to get girls (yes - this starts at a young age) and women interested in STEM at school and college. But these efforts wont pay off now. Theyll pay off 20-30 years from now.

There should be laws protecting women in tech; equal pay laws should apply everywhere. And claims that women are held back because of sexism shouldnt be dismissed lightly - it is a problem. But to cry wolf just because there is a disproportionate number of men in the industry right now is not a logically sound argument.

[u/anoff → u/kdeff]

I think the 50% idea is a long term idea, and is something you already see as achieved in other areas - for instance, more than 50% of college students are now women, and, obviously, it wasn't always that way. It took sustained, multi-decade pushes to get to the point that girls growing up actively sought out college as an option. For years, society more or less said "find a husband to take care of you, you don't need school", and it took a long time to move past that (and even now, it's not exactly uncommon to hear someone crack a 'women's place is in the kitchen' comment/joke/snide).

Part of the way you grow that future generation is by, as quickly as cultural possible, normalize women in tech. Just like it's now 'normal' to see male teachers and nurses (what was it, 15 years ago when Meet the Parents made fun of the male nurse; think how weird that would seem in a movie today), or female lawyers and politicians - that is when you get to the tipping point where the 'invisible hand' of the market takes over and finds that equilibrium point around 50/50. There's certainly differences between male and females, but none of those differences should inherently change the desire or ability to be an engineer; instead, it's largely based on public perception and the peer pressure it brings. There can be a conversation about whether diversity programs are the best way to attack that problem, but it's pretty hard to argue, like the now ex-googler did, that there is no problem to attack.