re A Googler's Would-Be Manifesto Reveals Tech's Rotten Core

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: L Jean Camp <ljeanc () gmail com>
> Subject: Re: [IP] A Googler's Would-Be Manifesto Reveals Tech's Rotten Core
> Date: August 6, 2017 at 5:55:58 PM EDT
> To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
> Reply-To: ljeanc () gmail com
>
> "why is the environment at Google such that racists and sexists feel supported and safe in sharing these views in the 
> company?"
>
> The person who wrote and the people who are agreeing do the interviews, the hiring, the performance reviews. The 
> numbers show that this is not one person but is an open expression of a systematic, consistently mathematically 
> obvious, long term bias against women and men from under-represented groups. 
>
> https://medium.com/projectinclude/i-am-disappointed-but-unsurprised-by-the-news-that-an-anti-diversity-sexist-racist-manifesto-is-5fdafbe19352
>  
> <https://medium.com/projectinclude/i-am-disappointed-but-unsurprised-by-the-news-that-an-anti-diversity-sexist-racist-manifesto-is-5fdafbe19352>
>
> Compassion for the people denied opportunities at, in and with Google and not the company's reputation are *my* top  
> concern. 
>
> Prof. L. Jean Camp
> http://www.ljean.com <http://www.ljean.com/>
>
> Make a Difference 
> http://www.ieeeusa.org/policy/govfel/congfel.asp <http://www.ieeeusa.org/policy/govfel/congfel.asp>
> On Sun, Aug 6, 2017 at 3:19 PM, Dave Farber <farber () gmail com <mailto:farber () gmail com>> wrote:
> One person (i think) condemns a company!!!!! REALLY  DJF
>
> > Begin forwarded message:
> >
> > From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com <mailto:dewayne () warpspeed com>>
> > Subject: [Dewayne-Net] A Googler's Would-Be Manifesto Reveals Tech's Rotten Core
> > Date: August 6, 2017 at 12:27:12 PM EDT
> > To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com <mailto:dewayne-net () warpspeed com>>
> > Reply-To: dewayne-net () warpspeed com <mailto:dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> >
> > A Googler's Would-Be Manifesto Reveals Tech's Rotten Core
> > Office culture is only part of the problem.
> > By IAN BOGOST
> > Aug 6 2017
> > <https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/08/why-is-tech-so-awful/536052/ 
> > <https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/08/why-is-tech-so-awful/536052/>>
> >
> > An anonymous Google software engineer’s 10-page fulmination against workplace diversity was leaked from internal 
> > company communications systems, including an internal version of Google+, the company’s social network, and another 
> > service that Gizmodo, which published the full memo, called an “internal meme network.”
> >
> > “I’m simply stating that the distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to 
> > biological causes,” the Googler writes, “and that these differences may explain why we don’t see equal 
> > representation of women in tech and leadership.”
> >
> > The memo has drawn rage and dismay since its appearance Saturday, when it was first reported by Motherboard. It 
> > seemed to dash hopes that much progress has been made in unraveling the systemic conditions that produce and 
> > perpetuate inequity in the technology industry. That includes increasing the distribution of women and minorities in 
> > technical jobs, equalizing pay, breaking the glass ceiling, and improving the quality of life in workplaces that 
> > sometimes resemble frat houses more than businesses.
> >
> > These reactions to the screed are sound, but they risk missing a larger problem: The kind of computing systems that 
> > get made and used by people outside the industry, and with serious consequences, are a direct byproduct of the gross 
> > machismo of computing writ large. More women and minorities are needed in computing because the world would be 
> > better for their contributions—and because it might be much worse without them.
> >
> > * * *
> >
> > Workplace equity has become a more visible issue in general, but it has reached fever pitch in the technology 
> > sector, especially with respect to women. When the former Uber engineer Susan Fowler published an explosive 
> > accusation of sexism at that company earlier this year, people took notice. When combined with a series of other 
> > scandals, not to mention with Uber’s longstanding, dubious behavior toward drivers and municipalities, the company 
> > was forced to act. CEO Travis Kalanick was ousted (although he remains on the board, where he retains substantial 
> > control).
> >
> > Given the context, it’s reasonable to sneer at the anonymous Googler’s simple grievances against workplace 
> > diversity. Supposedly natural differences between men and women make them suited for different kinds of work, he 
> > argues. Failure to accept this condition casts the result as inequality, he contends, and then as oppression. 
> > Seeking to correct for it amounts to discrimination. Rejecting these premises constitutes bias, or stymies open 
> > discourse. The Googler does not reject the idea of increasing diversity in some way. However, he laments what he 
> > considers discriminatory practices instituted to accomplish those goals, among them hiring methods designed to 
> > increase the diversity of candidate pools and training or mentoring efforts meant to better support 
> > under-represented groups.
> >
> > Efforts like these are necessary in the first place because diversity is so bad in the technology industry to begin 
> > with. Google publishes a diversity report, which reveals that the company’s workforce is currently comprised of 31 
> > percent women, with 20 percent working in technical fields. Those numbers are roughly on par with the tech sector as 
> > a whole, where about a quarter of workers are women.
> >
> > Racial and ethnic diversity are even worse—and so invisible that they barely register as a problem for the anonymous 
> > Googler. I was chatting about the memo with my Georgia Tech colleague Charles Isbell, who is Executive Associate 
> > Dean of the College of Computing and the only black tenure-track faculty member among over 80 in this top-ten 
> > ranking program.
> >
> > “Nothing about why black and Hispanic men aren’t software engineers?” he asked me after reading the letter, 
> > paraphrasing another black computer scientist, Duke’s Jeffrey R.N. Forbes. “Did I glaze over that bit?” Isbell knows 
> > that Google’s meager distribution of women  far outshines its terrible racial diversity. Only 2 percent of all U.S. 
> > Googlers are black, and only 4 percent are Hispanic. In tech-oriented positions, the numbers fall to 1 percent and 3 
> > percent, respectively. (Unlike the gender data, which is global, the ethnic diversity data is for the U.S. only.)
> >
> > [snip]
> >
> > Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/ <http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/>
> > Twitter: https://twitter.com/wa8dzp <https://twitter.com/wa8dzp>
>
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