Google takes strong stance against anti-diversity memo shared by employee

Google, like many forward-thinking companies, has an agenda of fostering diversity in its culture. So, when an unnamed engineer circulated a memo last week suggesting there were ‘biological causes’ for underrepresentation of women in technology and leadership, two of its executives criticized it and discouraged such future actions in the company.

According to the details provided, the memo was released by an employee of the company, whose identity is being kept confidential so that he does not face public backlash. He wrote a 3,000-word memo and one of the views expressed in it was that; “distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes and that these differences may explain why we don’t see equal representation of women in tech and leadership.”

The memo had gone internally viral and it sparked a debate among the employees of the company. It also shed light over the treatment of women in the male-dominated Silicon Valley that has been going on for months following the sexual harassment scandals at Uber Technologies Inc and several venture capital firms.

Many companies in the US have come under fire for not providing the same opportunities to women as men. In an effort to present itself as an inclusive and just company, Google recently hired a new vice president of diversity, integrity and governance, Danielle Brown.

Brown sent a memo in response to the engineer’s, saying that it “advanced incorrect assumptions about gender.”

“Part of building an open, inclusive environment means fostering a culture in which those with alternative views, including different political views, feel safe sharing their opinions,” Brown wrote.

“But that discourse needs to work alongside the principles of equal employment found in our Code of Conduct, policies, and anti-discrimination laws,” she added.

Google vice president Aristotle Balogh also wrote an internal post criticizing the employee’s memo, saying “stereotyping and harmful assumptions” could not be allowed to play any part in the company’s culture.

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Posted by fatimaarshad on Aug 7 2017. Filed under Latest News, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.