Alright, I read it all the way through.
I am still officially not offended.
But, I do think this guy is arguing more from a position of “I know these things about ‘women’ are true and since I am right we ‘should’ do what I think is the right thing to do.” And I think that’s misguided and diminishes his own points; as I believe you effectively pointed out already.
Some of what he wrote tugged at my heartstrings quite a bit. For example, when he described thinking that women have been able to change their roles more then men have — I think that’s true — I think it’s sad too. I think people as individuals ought be able to choose and move about freely.
I think he focused way way too much on the ‘whys’ of the gender gap and I can’t really figure whether that’s about a guilty conscious or his blatant biases against women and our abilities as a group.
There’s probably a mixed bag of reasons why women aren’t more interested in tech, why if they are they aren’t as successful as men or don’t have as many opportunities. It is possible that some of what he talked about — drive, aversion to being assertive, etc, are likely part of that mixed bag. Discrimination is also likely a part as well, whether we want to admit that or not. Either way, I think it would be better for everyone if we stopped worrying about the ‘why’ of the thing and started focusing more on results.
What’s done is done. The gap is there. Cycling on why we have a gap is pointless. We need to focus on solutions. We certainly can justify why we should solve this problem to help people understand and earn buy in —
We need to correct the lack of diversity in tech because diversity of thought is at the core of creativity and innovation. Tech is art and science. Diversity of perspective and thought is based on diversity of genetics and background. Therefore, true diversity of thought cannot occur when everyone in the room is like everyone else in the room. We lose competitive edge when we do not embrace differences. We lose innovation and creativity too. All of which impacts the bottom line.
This does go for the author of the manifesto as well. He should be able to talk about what he thinks. Personally, I think he is more of an expert on himself then other people and I think it would have been infinitely more productive (and probably would not have cost him his job) if he had stuck to talking about himself. He is not SME regarding women and it was highly foolish that he argue as if he is — this more than anything else is what cost him his job.
I think that’s the only part of his writing that some might find offensive too. Everything else was reasonable in my mind. It’s ok to question diversity programs and want to know why they are training people in certain groups specifically.
Conversely, he needs to accept the answer even if he doesn’t like it. The solution might not be perfect but it is a valid way to help minorities showing interest in these things grow and develop. If he feels he doesn’t have the same opportunity he should speak up.
I think part of this is people just being pissed off because they had to foot the bill to educate themselves or maybe feeling like they want to get on a team that’s full of people like themselves already. It creates a sense of fear that they are commodities in an industry they feel they built. I get that completely.
I don’t think that’s a healthy perspective, but it’s still valid. Either way, if people don’t like hand outs they shouldn’t take them. And if you’re a white male already years into your career in an industry that is dominated by white males, essentially, you took that hand out sooner then those minorities that are receiving assistance now.
Cashing out early is just what happened. That should not mean minorities with the aptitude and drive to train hard and work hard shouldn’t receive help now. That’s ridiculous. And even worse, it’s based on fundamentally incorrect assumptions about women and our capacity for tech in general. Yuck!
I think he is right to want to discuss it. I think instead of firing him there could have been opportunity to help him correct his own bias or at least get him comfortable being less codependent in his views. But none of us know his history at the company and the way he did this likely played a role.
I don’t think it was smart to publish a manifesto like that calling to not “discriminate” against white men. It is sad really. All he had to do was look around to realize there was no discrimination going on against white men in terms of employment at freaking Google of all places. Good grief.
This attitude that helping minorities get their legs under themselves in tech is equal to helping the ‘weak’ is ridiculous. Needing help doesn’t make a person weak, it makes them human. And this guy did not walk in on his first day knowing everything he needed for the job. He had training and help.
Another tangent for another day. In the end I think its good he started this conversation. I think he said some intelligent things and some misguided ones too. I wish someone had been a better friend to him and helped him see that providing minorities training or opportunity does not on its face = a loss for white men. I wish he could have talked openly and privately with leadership and gotten the assistance before getting walked out.
That is, assuming he wasn’t a shit engineer to begin with… 😄
