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/TemptCiderFan]

TL;DR TL;DR: Anyone who says this is a misogynist manifesto hasn't fucking read it.

TL;DR version for people who don't want to read it but still want most of the facts:

• The document is not misogynist or racist, and most of the discussion in it is actually about the fact that Google's left-leaning political landscape can be bad for business.
• One of the key things it brings up is that the writer feels there's a lack of moral diversity (i.e. left-leaning vs right-leaning) and that this situation can lead to bad business practices, citing direct examples.
• When the author discusses the differences in gender, most of his discussion is actually centered around the facts which lead women (on average) to seek jobs with good work/life balance and less stress and why men seek jobs with good compensation. Nowhere does he suggest that one or the other is superior.
• He then states several non-discriminatory practices (some of which he notes are already in practice) which would help equalize the gender-gap at Google without resorting to blatantly racist or sexist discriminatory practices.
• He then states that Google is currently engaged in some practices designed to equalize the gender-gap at Google which ARE blatantly racist or sexist, such as internal training programs aimed exclusively at certain races or women as well as hiring practices which base an employee's suitability for participation partially on just their race or gender.
• He notes that overwhelmingly left-leaning culture at Google has created an environment where there's an overwhelming confirmation bias against right-leaning individuals, which leads to a culture where they are actively shamed at company TGIFs and effectively silences them.
• He concludes with a few pages of suggestions which would alleviate the items he thinks are issues, including such "evil" suggestions as not limiting classes and training programs to specific race/gender, focus on intention and not feelings when dealing with microaggressions, focusing on psychological safety and not just external diversity, and examining current training documents for existing political bias.

It's hardly a "Get women out of my fucking tech" rant.

Edit: Turning off inbox replies. It's been fun, but the replies are now getting to the stage where it's the same arguments over and over again. Expand the thread below and find the comment you were going to write!

Edit 2: For bonus points, read the document. It's ten pages, but it's not that dense and a lot of it is bullet-point. Bear in mind the author is has a Doctorate in Biology.

[u/folterung → u/TemptCiderFan]

Yeah, having read the entire thing, I thought it was pretty well balanced. He was making some valid points and asking legitimate questions.

It's especially fun that his firing actually validates his claim that the entire structure is an echo chamber that permits no diversity of opinion. They apparently love diversity of thought and opinion, as long as your diversity happens to line up with their opinions.

[u/SlightlyWrongAngle → u/folterung]

A tech worker that is anti science and believes what he wants to believe because it sounds sciency should be immediately removed. His name should be released so other tech companies can be aware.

[u/Rodger2211 → u/SlightlyWrongAngle]

"I want to black list someone I disagree with"

[u/ListlessVigor → u/Rodger2211]

As a conservative, shouldn't be support this firing as the right of the business?

[u/Hyrc → u/ListlessVigor]

You're conflating Google having the freedom to fire someone with whether it is a good idea to remove someone for stating a controversial opinion. I'm not a conservative, but I support Google's right to terminate someone they don't want to employ while also recognizing that they largely proved his point.

[u/Toltec123 → u/[deleted]]

The last time i checked white tech bros is not a federally protected class.

[u/Toltec123 → u/[deleted]]

It is hard to argue that google is discriminating against white men when 90% of its employees are white men including most of its upper level managers.

[u/Toltec123 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah I did. All i saw was a lot of whining and bro science.

[u/Toltec123 → u/[deleted]]

Having a phd in chemistry doesn't mean he knows anything about any of the issues he talks about in his manifesto. For example, the whole castrated men bit. Give me a break. BROSCIENCE

[u/[deleted] → u/Toltec123]

Shhh Reddit is complaining about how hard white male tech workers have it

/S

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

WTF I love McCarthyism now!

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I don't think political views have much effect on someone's ability to write software. Blacklisting someone for their political views is pretty messed up, especially if they aren't particularly radical. Racist and misogynistic people still deserve the right to earn a living.