Google Cancels Town Hall To Discuss Diversity In Its Ranks (nbcnews.com)

NBC News originally reported: Google employees will gather for a town hall meeting Thursday afternoon to discuss the tensions ignited by a memo circulated inside the company that claimed to explain why more women are not engineers. Town hall meetings are nothing new at Google, but this one will likely be different after the so-called "Google Manifesto" went viral over the weekend, adding fresh fuel to the debate around gender bias in Silicon Valley. Google CEO Sundar Pichai told employees in an email earlier this week that he would cut his family vacation short in order to facilitate the forum. "The past few days have been very difficult for many at the company, and we need to find a way to debate issues on which we might disagree -- while doing so in line with our Code of Conduct," he wrote. "I'd encourage each of you to make an effort over the coming days to reach out to those who might have different perspectives from your own. I will be doing the same." The town hall comes amid a report from The Guardian that as many as 60 women are considering filing a class action lawsuit against Google, alleging sexism and wage disparity.
UPDATE: NBC News now reports the event has been cancelled, with Google CEO Sundar Pichai saying "Googlers are writing in, concerned about their safety and worried they may be 'outed' publicly for asking a question in the Town Hall... we need to step back and create a better set of conditions for us to have the discussion." Instead of the company-wide format, Google will now hold several smaller forums "to gather and engage with Googlers, where people can feel comfortable to speak freely," Pichai wrote.

Comments

Rush

[Tulsa_Time]

RUSH: They can’t be open about what they think. They have to follow the Google groupthink or they’re going to be canned. They’re not allowed to dissent. And yet these are people claiming to be the greatest defenders of First Amendment free speech.

Re:Look, women are fine at engineering

[Anonymous Coward]

Fun Fact, I'm at one of the world's best universities,

Yes, a university whose primary attendee is essentially defined by their position outside of the norm (i.e. the top x% of learners) is an ideal sample for guaging the average characteristics of the groups they fall within. /s

Nobody reasonable is claiming that individual women are incapable of excelling in STEM. The document that started this whole thing sought to explain the current status quo based on average characteristics of a group. You and most of the students around you are outliers and do not represent the mean.

The author of the document is arguing that the WAY we're trying to achieve diversity amounts to brute force and that we need to re-examine our approach, as well as examine our understanding of what constitutes a successfully diverse environment.

Re:Purpose

[Anonymous Coward]

This is why Cassie Jaye's Red Pill documentary is one of the most important films to come out in the past year, its basic argument is that men are already not valued by society and the increased emphasis on women's issues only reinforces the current state of affairs. So a jury wouldn't side with the male engineer, because no one would actually expect them to. It changes nothing. But if the woman engineer wins a settlement, this only increases social entropy, more women will be emboldened to take advantage, to get some money just for being women.

Re:Purpose

[MightyYar]

Wired has a writeup

Some upvoted questions:

“The doc asserted that Google has a lower bar for diversity candidates,” reads one question ranked highly by employees in an internal voting system. “This is hurting minority Googlers because it creates the perception that they are less qualified. What can we do to combat that perception?”

“I am a moderately conservative Googler, and I am and have been scared to share my beliefs,” the question reads. “The loud voice here is the liberal one. Conservative voices are hushed. What is leadership doing to ensure Googlers like me feel invited and accepted, not just tolerated or safe from angry mobs?”

Of course, the same article has such gems as:

The document cited purported principles of evolutionary psychology to argue that women are not well-suited to be good engineers.

Which is of course not at all what the document said.

Re:Canceled.

[AmiMoJo]

The alt-right are a self-identifying group who split away from the mainstream right which they felt had become too centrist. They reject most things mainstream, especially the media and current laws on equality and welfare. They want a big reset, a big change in the way society thinks, aka the Red Pill.

The alt-right centres around sites like Breitbart and InfoWars. People like Steve Bannon are considered to be at the forefront of the movement. Sub-groups include the Tea Party and various nationalists.

Wikipeida has a quite detailed article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...