Monday, August 7, 2017

Google distances itself from email decrying diversity efforts

When a solitary employee pounds out an internal memo at most organizations, it seldom elicits Twitter hashtags and category-five news coverage.

But when that organization is Alphabet Inc.’s Google, and the topic is gender inequality in the tech industry, the ensuing worldwide fireworks forced the organization to respond.

In the memo—which is drawing furious pushback on social media and the press—a male software engineer questioned Google’s diversity efforts and suggested that biological differences account for the lower level of women’s representation in the industry.

Alphabet’s new vice president for diversity, Danielle Brown, released a statement saying the employee “advanced incorrect assumptions about gender.” The writer’s views aren’t endorsed or promoted by the organization, she told employees in a memo that was also released to the public.

“We are unequivocal in our belief that diversity and inclusion are critical to our success as a company,” said Brown, who assumed her role at Google last month. “We’ll continue to stand for that and be committed to it for the long haul.”

Memo: Discriminatory practices at Google?

In the memo, the author states, “We need to stop assuming that gender gaps imply sexism.”

Though the author said he supports gender and racial diversity, he argued that Google has created several discriminatory practices, including programs, mentoring and classes only for people “with a certain gender or race.” He also accused the organization of an anti-conservative bias and “hiring practices which can effectively lower the bar for ‘diversity’ candidates by decreasing the false negative rate.”

Want to make your female colleagues really fond of you? Suggest that “Women on average are more prone to anxiety,” as the memo did.

Motherboard first reported about the memo over the weekend, by which time it had gone internally viral. The tech publication noted one reason Google’s leadership felt the need to tamp down the flames:

“While the document itself contains the thoughts of just one Google employee,” Motherboard stated, “the context in which they were shared—Google is currently being investigated by the Department of Labor for its gender pay gap and Silicon Valley has been repeatedly exposed as a place that discriminates against women and people of color—as well as the private and public response from its workforce are important.”

The news media was quick to share the story, denouncing it as a “ screed” and a “ rant.” The Washington Post stated (not quite accurately), “A Google engineer wrote that women may be unsuited for tech jobs.”ABC News (“memo sparks debate over gender equality”), The New York Times (“Google Employee's Anti-Diversity Memo Prompts Company Rebuke”) and others weighed in. Newspapers noted the controversy in sites as distant as Manila (“sexist document”) and Singapore (“3,000-word fulmination”).

[FREE GUIDE: Keep your cool in a crisis with these 13 tips.]

Twitter responds

The document drew scathing criticism on (where else?) Twitter:

Some women said the document reflected sexism they had experienced:

But the document had its defenders, some of them women, who remarked that it was footnoted and tried to explore a serious question:

Google’s Brown made clear that the organization remains unequivocal in its belief in diversity and inclusion, “and we’ll continue to stand for that and be committed to it for the long haul. As Ari Balogh said in his internal G+ post, ‘Building an open, inclusive environment is core to who we are, and the right thing to do. ‘Nuff said.’”

@byworking

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