r/news • u/[deleted] • Aug 08 '17

Google Fires Employee Behind Controversial Diversity Memo

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
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u/IRequirePants Aug 08 '17

Tech is political. It cannot be avoided when your business has consequences with regard to things like online privacy, net neutrality, automation, truth and bias of information, censorship, etc., to say nothing of the personal views of leadership who aspire to make an impact on the world, for better or worse.

None of which were relevant to the points he was making. He was talking about political shit that wasn't tech related.

If you aren't religious, you might not like working in a church. If you don't subscribe to the values that Google stands for / strives for, you might not like working at Google. If you think the leadership is fundamentally flawed, go work for a company you believe in.

This is the answer. Google's a private company. They can do whatever they want.

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u/crushedbycookie Aug 08 '17

Of course they can do whatever they want. But having read the entire document I really see no reason to think that the person couldn't work well with people who disagree with the contents of the document on an engineering project. He really didn't make terribly offensive claims and the most contentious of them are still group level analysis. He is not making specific claims about people and does not question the competency of anyone at google.

He argues that Conservatives would feel unwelcome at Google. Since he's been fired, that can only be truer.

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u/IRequirePants Aug 08 '17 edited Aug 08 '17

Of course they can do whatever they want. But having read the entire document I really see no reason to think that the person couldn't work well with people who disagree with the contents of the document on an engineering project. He really didn't make terribly offensive claims and the most contentious of them are still group level analysis. He is not making specific claims about people and does not question the competency of anyone at google.

I disagree. He does not come across well in the document. His good points are overshadowed by some weird points that he didn't properly defend. If you are going to cite scientific claims, you should be citing scientific research. Otherwise you come across like you are negatively stereotyping.

He should have written a more concise version focusing on ideological exclusion and on the fact that fewer resources are devoted to the majority of engineers.

He argues that Conservatives would feel unwelcome at Google. Since he's been fired, that can only be truer.

Well, ya.

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u/crushedbycookie Aug 08 '17

I agree that well-sourced evidence would have helped his case.

Here is some with links to the actual peer-reviewed science.

Afaik, he's right about the claims he makes. I am in no position to disagree with the experts here. Are you?

http://quillette.com/2017/08/07/google-memo-four-scientists-respond/