Do read. -- Re One of Google's highest-ranking women has answered that controversial memo with a very personal essay

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

Begin forwarded message:

> From:
> Date: August 10, 2017 at 10:18:19 AM EDT
> To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
> Subject: Re: [IP] One of Google's highest-ranking women has answered that controversial memo with a very personal 
> essay
> Reply-To:
>
> Dave I thought the twitter thread below answers it well.  
>
> For once, for the first time, I ask if you forward this to make it anonymous. Because this is exactly the kind of 
> dialogue that is not really allowed because it makes powerful people uncomfortable, people who are used to comfort. 
> And I do not feel like being the target of anyone's rage over this. If you cannot strip my UID, just do not use it.
>
> Thanks for all you do. This list is such an enhancement to my life. 
>
> Guys,
> https://twitter.com/cmclymer/status/895497189304156161
> Imagine reading this twitter thread every week, or hearing the statistics in it read to you.  Two or three times a 
> month try defending that you are not a rapist -- not violent despite strong statistical evidence. Imagine every 
> meeting you go to someone is looking at you thinking, "Dude. Wonder if he is a rapist." Imagine that your comments 
> get cut off and ideas claimed by others because the underlying belief is you are just another stupid rapist who no 
> one should really take seriously. Then substitute "incompetent and emotional" for "rapist". And you will get a sense 
> of the actual context of the Google document and the millions more comments like it. You would get  tired of being 
> accused of what you are not, and after a while refuse to address why you yourself are not a rapist and should not get 
> treated as one. That would make you difficult and an enemy of free speech. After a while you would feel unjustly 
> accused.  If you start asking people to be decent about it and treat you as an individual human, a decent competent 
> human being, well that would be "politically correct."  
>
>
>
> > On Thu, Aug 10, 2017 at 6:51 AM, Dave Farber <farber () gmail com> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > Begin forwarded message:
> >
> > > From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> > > Date: August 10, 2017 at 3:22:45 AM EDT
> > > To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> > > Subject: [Dewayne-Net] One of Google's highest-ranking women has answered that controversial memo with a very 
> > > personal essay
> > > Reply-To: dewayne-net () warpspeed com
> > >
> > > One of Google’s highest-ranking women has answered that controversial memo with a very personal essay
> > > By Jena McGregor
> > > Aug 9 2017
> > > <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2017/08/09/one-of-googles-highest-ranking-women-has-answered-that-controversial-memo-with-a-very-personal-essay/>
> > >
> > > Like many Google leaders, Susan Wojcicki probably faced some difficult questions from employees this week about the 
> > > controversial employee memo that exploded on social media. But the most personal question may have come from her 
> > > daughter.
> > >
> > > In an essay published by Fortune on Wednesday, the chief executive of YouTube, which is owned by Google, wrote that 
> > > her daughter asked her about the memo, which raised questions about Google's diversity efforts and included 
> > > statements about gender differences. It was written by a company engineer who was fired earlier this week in its 
> > > aftermath. “Mom,” her daughter asked her, “is it true that there are biological reasons why there are fewer women 
> > > in tech and leadership?”
> > >
> > > Before revealing how she answered her daughter, Wojcicki said the question has been “pervasive,” based on her 
> > > experience. “That question, whether it's been asked outright, whispered quietly, or simply lingered in the back of 
> > > someone's mind, has weighed heavily on me throughout my career in technology.”
> > >
> > > She wrote that she's had her abilities and job commitment questioned, been left out of industry events and social 
> > > gatherings, watched as outside leaders addressed her more junior colleagues in meetings and been interrupted and 
> > > ignored. “No matter how often this all happened, it still hurt,” she wrote.
> > >
> > > As a result, “I thought about the women at Google who are now facing a very public discussion about their 
> > > abilities, sparked by one of their own co-workers,” she wrote. “And as my child asked me the question I’d long 
> > > sought to overcome in my own life, I thought about how tragic it was that this unfounded bias was now being exposed 
> > > to a new generation.”
> > >
> > > Wojcicki also directly addressed the engineer's dismissal. “As a company that has long supported free expression, 
> > > Google obviously stands by the right that employees have to voice, publish or tweet their opinions,” she wrote. 
> > > “But while people may have a right to express their beliefs in public, that does not mean companies cannot take 
> > > action when women are subjected to comments that perpetuate negative stereotypes about them based on their gender.”
> > >
> > > She also raised the question of “what if we replaced the word 'women' in the memo with another group?” — such as 
> > > black, Hispanic or LGBTQ employees. “Would some people still be discussing the merit of the memo's arguments or 
> > > would there be a universal call for swift action against its author?”
> > >
> > > In writing the essay, Wojcicki becomes the highest-ranking women at Google to address the matter publicly, adding a 
> > > key female executive's voice to the company leadership's response. While Danielle Brown, Google's vice president of 
> > > diversity, integrity and governance released a statement earlier this week, saying that “like many of you, I found 
> > > that it advanced incorrect assumptions about gender,” Wojcicki's was much more personal.
> > >
> > > After thinking about all these issues, she wrote, “I looked at my daughter and answered simply. 'No, it’s not 
> > > true.' ”
> > >
> > > The author of the memo, which was first circulated on an internal network and then went viral online, wrote that 
> > > “differences in distributions of traits between men and women may in part explain why we don’t have 50 percent 
> > > representation of women in tech and leadership.” He wrote that “I value diversity and inclusion, am not denying 
> > > that sexism exists, and don’t endorse using stereotypes” and said that “I'm not saying that all men differ from 
> > > women in the following ways or that these differences are 'just.' ”
> > >
> > > But he also said that women, on average, have more extroversion “expressed as gregariousness rather than 
> > > assertiveness” and “higher agreeableness,” which “leads to women generally having a harder time negotiating salary, 
> > > asking for raises, speaking up and leading.” He wrote that women on average have “higher anxiety, lower stress 
> > > tolerance,” and “look for more work-life balance.” In a memo late Monday to employees, Google CEO Sundar Pichai 
> > > wrote that “portions of the memo violate our Code of Conduct and cross the line by advancing harmful gender 
> > > stereotypes in our workplace.”
> > >
> > > [snip]
> > >
> > > Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/
> > > Twitter: https://twitter.com/wa8dzp



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