Susan Fowler’s blog post was so effective precisely because of who she is. Susan Fowler is an engineer. She did what engineers do. She documented the problem. Explored the constraints of the problem. And when she was unable to correct the problem with her own resources she shared it with the community. This is normal behavior for software engineers, audio engineers, electrical engineers. It’s an engineer being an engineer.

Uber’s reaction to the issue has been more indicative of an institution trying to control spin, than one which wants to correct an issue.

As Fowler pointed out in her original post. Uber started off with a high number of female engineers (in this industry it is remarkable to see even a 5–1 ratio). And this number declined over time.

If this was free memory, and the goal of the code was to avoid consuming more ram than necessary, I’d be alarmed to see free memory decline over time, despite best efforts.

Uber did all they could to sweep harassment claims under the carpet. Did not address problems with the offenders, but rather the victims. Essentially they engaged in denial and nihilism.

In engineering, especially in software/internet engineering, taking responsibility is key. Acknowledging issues is key.

Keep deleting that app people. Uber deserves to be bankrupt.