IN a screed that rocketed around Silicon Valley this weekend, a software engineer at Google blasted the company’s efforts to increase the number of minorities and women in its ranks and leadership positions. The essay was posted on an internal Google forum by a male software engineer and titled “Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber”.

Critics say his sentiments reflect a tech company culture that’s unwelcoming or even hostile to women and minorities. Another fear: The engineer’s words reflect the unspoken thoughts of many others in an industry dominated by white men.

Google, which has announced efforts to increase diversity and is being investigated over allegations of gender pay inequality, did not respond to a message from The Washington Post seeking comment on Sunday. The company did address the essay in an internal letter to employees.

The essay argues that Google should stop its campaigns to increase gender and racial diversity and focus instead on “ideological diversity”. It says the reason women don’t make up half of the company’s technological and leadership positions is because of “genetic differences” in their preferences and abilities.

Responding to the essay in a message to Google employees, Danielle Brown, the company’s new vice president of diversity, integrity and governance, said the essay “advanced incorrect assumptions about gender”.

Slack engineer Erica Baker, whom CNBC called an “outspoken critic of systematic bias in the tech industry,” said the engineer’s diatribe was shocking but not surprising.

“The most important question we should be asking of leaders at Google and that they should be asking of themselves is this: Why is the environment at Google such that racists and sexists feel supported and safe in sharing these views in the company?,”she wrote on her blog on Saturday.

Yonatan Zunger, a former senior Google employee, wrote on Medium that the essay shows a misunderstanding of the way Google tries to address the world’s problems:

“Essentially, engineering is all about cooperation, collaboration, and empathy for both your colleagues and your customers. If someone told you that engineering was a field where you could get away with not dealing with people or feelings, then I’m very sorry to tell you that you have been lied to.”—The Washington Post

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2017