RiL3z.github.io

The Google Memo

I've never read the "google memo" until today. I took a gander at it to see what the controversy is all about. The document, as a whole, is totally uncontroversial in my opinion. As far as I can tell, it makes accurate observations and good points, and the claims within are supported by evidence. I honestly have no idea what the problem with it is, but I can make some guesses. I've extracted what I think the most controversial parts of the document are. Take a look and consider them.

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.

In a world where there are no deep psychological or innate differences between men and women, we'd have 50% of the leadership positions being held by women. We don't have 50% representation of women in leadership because we don't live in that world, however. We live in a world where the innate differences between men and women explain why we don't see a 50/50 split. Notice how James Damore is not saying that discrimination against women doesn't exist. That's not the claim. He's merely playing with the idea that maybe the reason there are so many men in tech is that men and woman, ON AVERAGE, like different jobs because we have different interests, again, ON AVERAGE.

For the rest of this document, I’ll concentrate on the extreme stance that all differences in outcome are due to differential treatment and the authoritarian element that’s required to actually discriminate to create equal representation.

James is suggesting this: The notion that there aren't as many women in positions of leadership because woman are treated like shit might be a little extreme. James is also saying that in order to create equal numbers of women in tech, you'd basically have to start screening out job candidates who are male to force the equal numbers. The volume of men coming into tech jobs is far greater than the number of women coming into tech jobs. Is it because women are discriminated against? Or because men tend to have different interests than women? Just consider the possibility that that's true. Tell me, would it be a good idea for hospitals to start implementing a hiring policy with the goal of getting 50% of their nursing staff to be male? That would be dumb. 91% of nurses are female! If you don't believe that stat just do some google searching.

On average, men and women biologically differ in many ways. These differences aren’t just socially constructed because:

• They’re universal across human cultures
• They often have clear biological causes and links to prenatal testosterone
• Biological males that were castrated at birth and raised as females often still identify and act like males
• The underlying traits are highly heritable
• They’re exactly what we would predict from an evolutionary psychology perspective
  Note, I’m not saying that all men differ from all women in the following ways or that these differences are “just.” I’m simply stating that the 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. Many of these differences are small and there’s significant overlap between men and women, so you can’t say anything about an individual given these population level distributions.

Men and woman are different. There's good evidence for it across cultures. Not all women act like women and not all men act like men. You should treat people as individuals. Wow, what a silly idea, right?

Women, on average, have more:

• Openness directed towards feelings and aesthetics rather than ideas. Women generally also have a stronger interest in people rather than things, relative to men (also interpreted as empathizing vs. systemizing).
  • These two differences in part explain why women relatively prefer jobs in social or artistic areas. More men may like coding because it requires systemizing and even within SWEs, comparatively more women work on front end, which deals with both people and aesthetics.
• Extraversion expressed as gregariousness rather than assertiveness. Also, higher agreeableness.
  • This leads to women generally having a harder time negotiating salary, asking for raises, speaking up, and leading. Note that these are just average differences and there’s overlap between men and women, but this is seen solely as a women’s issue. This leads to exclusory programs like Stretch and swaths of men without support.
• Neuroticism (higher anxiety, lower stress tolerance).
  • This may contribute to the higher levels of anxiety women report on Googlegeist and to the lower number of women in high stress jobs.

Women, on average, are more open, social, agreeable, and suffer from higher rates of anxiety. These are observations. Notice how NOWHERE does James say that all women are just a bunch of shrill whiny sluts complaining all the time and that they don't know how to handle themselves because they act like children.

Note that contrary to what a social constructionist would argue, research suggests that "greater nation-level gender equality leads to psychological dissimilarity in men’s and women’s personality traits." Because as “society becomes more prosperous and more egalitarian, innate dispositional differences between men and women have more space to develop and the gap that exists between men and women in their personality traits becomes wider.” We need to stop assuming that gender gaps imply sexism.

In a society with equal laws and opportunity for men and women, men and women have MORE freedom to pursue their actual interests, so the gender divide in jobs actually widens.

There are people who, if I were to consult with them about posting on this topic, would advise me not to speak out or engage on it because:

• My words could be taken out of context.
• I'm putting myself at risk of being viewed negatively and possibly hurting my career.
• I could alienate myself from coworkers or friends.

I'd like to have a few words with those people. I am not a coward. I do not place my career, money, friendships, or my desire for acceptance over what I believe to be the truth and I mince no words when it comes to expressing myself. I've got hair on my testicles, damnit. If you knew my story or me at all, you would realize that I've been swimming against the stream my whole life.

So, ladies who take issue with the memo and would like to educate me, I'd like to hear from you. If you don't like what the memo is claiming or how it's influencing me or my fellow men, I'd like to hear your reasoning on why this document is threatening, wrong, or sexist. Please know that if you're going to criticize it, that I expect you to read the whole thing, which is linked here. Explain what the problem with it is. Keep in mind that by supporting James Damore I have NOT said, nor do I believe, any of the following things:

• Women are incompetent at engineering.
  • There are scores of women more experienced, more driven, and more capable than me at the art/science of designing and developing systems. I have a lot to learn about technology from these women.
• Women are too emotional to be in tech jobs.
  • Women are capable of emotional control and stoicism. Many women have more disciplined minds than me.
• Men are superior to women.
  • We are different than, not superior to, each other.
• Women should be discouraged from entering tech.
  • No. If you are passionate about technology and engineering, I invite you to into this world that consists of, I admit, mostly men. I understand that it's a little nerve racking to be around so many guys all the time and I think you are brave for letting your passion for contributing to the technology world outweigh your fear.
• Women can't be leaders.
  • I have no problem with working under a woman. If she's competent and motivated, I will admire her. I admire any person like that, regardless of background, skin color, sex, or gender.
• Women only want to do UI work.
  • False. Many women prefer UI work but backend work is not the exclusive territory of men either. If you like writing the data delivery work-horses that are APIs and you also like managing servers as a woman, awesome!
• Women only want to socialize.
  • I realize not all women are social flowers and that some women are introverted and prefer to be left alone when they work.