Google memo
"Google's Ideological Echo Chamber" is an internal memo written in August 2017 by American-based Google engineer James Damore on the company's ideological stance toward diversity. The memo focuses on Google allegedly shutting down the conversation about diversity, and suggests that gender inequality in the technology industry is "in part" due to biological differences between men and women. Google CEO Sundar Pichai responded by saying that the memo "advanc harmful gender stereotypes", and on August 7 Damore was fired.
The memo and subsequent dismissal provoked a strong reaction from commentators on both sides. Initially shared on an internal mailing list, the paper was leaked to the public via the Vice vertical Motherboard resulting in heated controversy across social media. The company has formally expressed they don't support the document and several current and former employees were highly critical of it. According to Wired, Google's internal forums showed "plenty of support" for Damore who said he received private thanks from employees who were afraid to come forward. Several management and employment law experts noted that while Damore could challenge his firing in court, his potential case would be weak and Google would have several defensible reasons for firing him; the discriminatory content of his memo could be cited as evidence of a "hostile work environment" in sexual harassment lawsuits against Google, and that Damore would be unable to fairly assess or supervise the work of female colleagues.
Text
The memo provides an initial summary (entitled "TL;DR") with the following points:
* Google's political bias has equated the freedom from offense with psychological safety, but shaming into silence is the antithesis of psychological safety.
* This silencing has created an ideological echo chamber where some ideas are too sacred to be honestly discussed.
* The lack of discussion fosters the most extreme and authoritarian elements of this ideology.
** Extreme: all disparities in representation are due to oppression
** Authoritarian: we should discriminate to correct for this oppression
* Differences in distributions of traits between men and women may in part explain why we don't have 50% representation of women in tech and leadership.
* Discrimination to reach equal representation is unfair, divisive, and bad for business.
Reactions
Google
Google's Vice President of Diversity & Governance, Danielle Brown, responded formally to the memo on August 8, 2017 and stated: "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. But that discourse needs to work alongside the principles of equal employment found in our Code of Conduct, policies, and anti-discrimination laws".
Damore was fired by Google on August 7 and announced that he was considering legal action against the company.
Others
In an opinion for The Guardian, science journalist Angela Saini wrote that the memo reflected common misconceptions about the biological differences between men and women, and demonstrated a flawed understanding of the research it cited.
In his tweets Julian Assange of WikiLeaks said he wanted to offer Damore a job and wrote that "censorship is for losers" and "Women & men deserve respect. That includes not firing them for politely expressing ideas but rather arguing back". Megan Smith, a former Google vice president, said Damore's views were common in Silicon Valley and "insidious."
The memo and subsequent dismissal provoked a strong reaction from commentators on both sides. Initially shared on an internal mailing list, the paper was leaked to the public via the Vice vertical Motherboard resulting in heated controversy across social media. The company has formally expressed they don't support the document and several current and former employees were highly critical of it. According to Wired, Google's internal forums showed "plenty of support" for Damore who said he received private thanks from employees who were afraid to come forward. Several management and employment law experts noted that while Damore could challenge his firing in court, his potential case would be weak and Google would have several defensible reasons for firing him; the discriminatory content of his memo could be cited as evidence of a "hostile work environment" in sexual harassment lawsuits against Google, and that Damore would be unable to fairly assess or supervise the work of female colleagues.
Text
The memo provides an initial summary (entitled "TL;DR") with the following points:
* Google's political bias has equated the freedom from offense with psychological safety, but shaming into silence is the antithesis of psychological safety.
* This silencing has created an ideological echo chamber where some ideas are too sacred to be honestly discussed.
* The lack of discussion fosters the most extreme and authoritarian elements of this ideology.
** Extreme: all disparities in representation are due to oppression
** Authoritarian: we should discriminate to correct for this oppression
* Differences in distributions of traits between men and women may in part explain why we don't have 50% representation of women in tech and leadership.
* Discrimination to reach equal representation is unfair, divisive, and bad for business.
Reactions
Google's Vice President of Diversity & Governance, Danielle Brown, responded formally to the memo on August 8, 2017 and stated: "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. But that discourse needs to work alongside the principles of equal employment found in our Code of Conduct, policies, and anti-discrimination laws".
Damore was fired by Google on August 7 and announced that he was considering legal action against the company.
Others
In an opinion for The Guardian, science journalist Angela Saini wrote that the memo reflected common misconceptions about the biological differences between men and women, and demonstrated a flawed understanding of the research it cited.
In his tweets Julian Assange of WikiLeaks said he wanted to offer Damore a job and wrote that "censorship is for losers" and "Women & men deserve respect. That includes not firing them for politely expressing ideas but rather arguing back". Megan Smith, a former Google vice president, said Damore's views were common in Silicon Valley and "insidious."
Comments