When scientists respond to Google Memo
Finally.
I had been looking for weeks for some scientific perspective on the memo and finally I found it.
It’s a long read but the tl;dr might be put: gender traits are a spectrum (“dials”) and there are biological differences between men and women that affect the brain.
If you can’t accept those facts then we can’t have a reasoned debate because we don’t agree on basic fundamentals.
Some choice quotes:
[The American corporate] dogma relies on two core assumptions:
- The human sexes and races have exactly the same minds, with precisely identical distributions of traits, aptitudes, interests, and motivations; therefore, any inequalities of outcome in hiring and promotion must be due to systemic sexism and racism;
- The human sexes and races have such radically different minds, backgrounds, perspectives, and insights, that companies must increase their demographic diversity in order to be competitive; any lack of demographic diversity must be due to short-sighted management that favors groupthink.
— Professor Geoffrey Miller, PhD
Or this quote:
As a woman who’s worked in academia and within STEM, I didn’t find the memo offensive or sexist in the least. I found it to be a well thought out document, asking for greater tolerance for differences in opinion, and treating people as individuals instead of based on group membership.
Now. How do we get people to listen to the science without immediately assuming any discussion of trait-difference is sexism? How do we get people to accept nuance?
