Ask a Female Engineer: Thoughts on the Google Memo
&gt; &quot;I disagree completely and utterly that the (yes, real) average differences between men and women map to being better or worse at certain jobs.&quot;<p>Where did the memo say this? This is the most common strawman used to attempt to discredit the memo. The memo author never states that men are better at software engineering, just that these biological differences may help explain why women are underrepresented, choosing to pursue computer science and careers in tech less than men.<p>&gt; &quot;the takeaway from the memo is literally that the onus is on me to prove to men in tech that I’m not an “average” woman&quot;<p>&gt; &quot;This is literally a discussion of whether half the human race is innately unsuited for a certain kind of work&quot;<p>See above<p>&gt; &quot;I disagree that it’s possible to write what he did about general populations, then walk it back to say “but of course it doesn’t apply at an individual level.”<p>Essentially what you&#x27;re saying is, &quot;we&#x27;re not allowed to talk about biological differences that make underrepresented minorities look bad&quot;. I disagree. No fact should be barred from mentioning, and it&#x27;s not the author&#x27;s responsibility to ensure that you don&#x27;t misconstrue his facts to advance your own agenda of claiming oppression.<p>&gt; &quot;He did not address any counter arguments or research that opposes his views, or the validity of the studies he did cite and their reproducibility.&quot;<p>Did you address any counter-arguments in your research report? This is some dude&#x27;s memo in an opt-in internet forum, not a comprehensive&#x2F;rigorous discipline-defining research report seeking publication in an academic journal.<p>&gt; &quot;He claimed that Google’s diversity efforts represent a lowering of the bar.&quot;<p>I agree that he should have elaborated on this bold claim. Though it&#x27;s not outrageous to suspect that this could be the case given that affirmative action policies in higher education do lower the bar.<p>&gt; &quot;Some people at Google reacted by saying “well if he’s so wrong, then why not refute him,” but that requires spending a significant amount of time building an argument against the claims in his document. On the other hand, if I remain silent, that silence could be mistaken for agreement. I should not be forced into that kind of debate at work.&quot;<p>The memo was posted in an opt-in forum, you didn&#x27;t have to debate it. Silence does not imply that you agree with him.<p>&gt; &quot;I’m also disappointed that the men I know, including most of my male colleagues, remained silent on the topic. And the ones that did participate, either seemed to support Damore or demonstrated a fundamental lack of understanding for the issues women engineers are faced with and care about.&quot;<p>Why do you think they remained silent? You said it yourself - anyone who disagrees with you is wrong. Damore got fired for stating a well-articulated opinion, why would any of your male colleagues jeopardize their jobs as well by speaking honestly on the matter?<p>&gt; I wish more successful men in tech thought deeply about the advantages they’ve had – the situations in which they were more likely to be trusted, deemed competent, promoted, given raises, etc. as men than they would be as women. This exercise isn’t intended to place blame, but to inspire empathy toward those who feel the weight of their gender each day at work.<p>I wish more women in tech vilifying Damore would think about the advantages they have received (affirmative action), think about it from the perspective of a male in a field where we get no hand-holding or &quot;women in tech&quot; scholarships and are constantly accused of being sexist oppressors, and stop pretending like discrimination is the only or main reason women are underrepresented in tech. I firmly believe that women chose to pursue tech less than men and that this is the biggest driver of the underrepresentation (posted a little about that here <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=15012364" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=15012364</a>). If it is indeed the case that women are choosing to pursue the study of computer science less than men, then stop placing the burden on us males to increase your participation.<p>Before you automatically dismiss me and others with views differing to you as a misogynist, consider that most of us in the first world do not consider women as being any less capable than men at software engineering, let alone ANY discipline. Women used to dominate the field, and no reasonable man believes that women aren&#x27;t fit for the job or shouldn&#x27;t pursue this field.<p>&gt; By remaining silent on this topic or tweeting support for Damore, they are sending a message that philosophical arguments and principles take precedence over the lived experiences of many smart, talented female engineers and technical founders<p>What does this even mean? It&#x27;s just another way of saying &quot;by not agreeing with me, you&#x27;re wrong&quot;<p>&gt; I think he could have written it differently, so that people who chose not to read the whole 10-pages could have read the tl;dr and not immediately concluded he was sexist.<p>So the onus is on the author to ensure that people don&#x27;t flippantly conclude that he&#x27;s a sexist?<p>&gt; This is an emotional topic<p>That&#x27;s the problem, it shouldn&#x27;t be.<p>&gt; He was not fired for speaking truth to power, he was fired for mishandling a complex subject in a way that caused harm to his employer (and many of his colleagues).<p>He wouldn&#x27;t have been fired if the memo argued the opposite viewpoint