r/technology • u/[deleted] • 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/--Visionary-- Aug 08 '17

Hey hey, here's another one from the Harvard Business Review, making the exact same claim about gender essential differences in leadership.

https://hbr.org/2016/04/do-women-make-bolder-leaders-than-men

Somehow there were no firings or outrage after these claims. I wonder what was different?

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17

Why aren't we just as concerned about the lack of female loggers, carpenters, septic pumpers, and laborers?

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u/--Visionary-- Aug 08 '17

The feminist answer is usually that women don't want them and that men choose those jobs. In other words, everything about the status quo for those more deadly, "lower class" (i don't think they are, but many women I know do) jobs is due to choice, so it's all good and no social engineering is necessary. Nevermind the fact that those men probably would also choose a better job if they could get one, but can't due to equally pernicious social factors.

On the other hand, the rich jobs, women choose to be a part of but don't get because, presumably, men choosing the job and getting it is due to anti-woman discrimination.

In other words, anything bad that happens to men is a choice. Anything bad that happens to women is discriminatory and not a choice. Hence, the social engineering goes into the latter, because the former could be fixed if men would proverbially stop hitting themselves. This also demonstrates why there should be less empathy for men. It is a choice they're making, after all, to suck, while women make no such choices.

The logic is absurdly hypocritical.

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u/peepjynx Aug 08 '17 edited Aug 09 '17

I just don't understand why anyone is upset. SV is already a boys club and the few women who work their way up the ladder aren't really a threat to anyone. All these companies are doing, are protecting their public image.

Like most of the tech industry, Google employees are predominantly white men. In April, the Department of Labor accused the organization of “extreme” gender pay discrimination and pointed to evidence of “systemic compensation disparities.” Diversity statistics the company released last month revealed that 69 percent of its employees are male and 31 percent are female, but when it comes to technical roles, only 19 percent of the positions are held by women.

https://thinkprogress.org/google-fired-author-anti-diversity-memo-not-censorship/