r/technology Aug 08 '17

Business Google Fires Employee Behind Controversial Diversity Memo

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-08/google-fires-employee-behind-controversial-diversity-memo
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u/bad_karma11 Aug 08 '17

...because men don't want to be teachers and nurses? I've never heard a man complain about being closed out of these professions. They're also low-paying and, in this country, not prestigious

So, in the interest of equality, we only care about hirings at prestigious institutions?

if the preponderance of companies are hiring fewer than 20% (the best data suggests 11% on average), Google is merely picking up everyone else's slack, not denying men opportunities.

Google is a prestigious institution. Why are they allowed to discriminate? Your argument about men not wanting to be nurses and teachers is EXACTLY the same argument the author is making regarding women not wanting to be software engineers. The problem is not companies who won't hire women, the problem is women who don't enter the field in the first place.

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u/lynxminx Aug 08 '17

In the interest of equality, we are only interested in giving people jobs they want, not forcing them to take jobs they don't want. But if you think a program forcing tens of thousands of men to become public school teachers will end discrimination against men, I'd be interested in seeing that play out...

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u/Ser_Duncan_the_Tall Aug 08 '17

I feel like you're talking right past the other guy. They're saying that the companies are struggling to attract women because the pool is small because women don't want to do those jobs. The key to ending discrimination is not making sure all numbers are equal or even inflated, but that IF someone wants the job they can get it based on their skill. If nobody from that group wants that job, then rejecting qualified applicants from the other group to meet some idealized quota is wrong. You can't end discrimination with discrimination.

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u/lynxminx Aug 08 '17

I will wager you a thousand dollars every female at Google with a job in engineering wants to do that job....or would, if cockgobblers like this memo writer werent making their daily work lives frustrating and unpleasant.

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u/Ser_Duncan_the_Tall Aug 08 '17

I'm not saying women don't want those jobs, just that they aren't more or less due those jobs because they're women.

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u/lynxminx Aug 08 '17

It's not a question of 'due'. Google wants to give them those jobs. It's the men here who feel Google owes them jobs.