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Google tried to block media coverage of gender discrimination case

theguardian.com

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Re: Google tried to block media coverage of gender discrimination case

#12
post #10
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another way of looking at it is that efforts at pay equality simply counteract bias built in to the system. Though it's often unspoken, gender/ethnicity/etc. already are hugely important in pay, even if the bias is unconscious. There could be various reasons women are paid less which, from a business perspective, make some sense, e.g. the likelihood the business will lose its investment in the employee on account of…

"Women looked at individually do have some additional risk over your average man due to biology as well as the desire to actively mother children". Hmmmm....

"[T]he gender pay gap only exists for women over 40, suggesting it is less about gender and more about something else entirely. Indeed, women in their twenties currently out-earn men and it is only when they start a family that the pay gap starts to emerge.

"Is this down to nasty employers undervaluing female staff once they’ve had a baby or to outdated societal expectations that women are the main child carers?

"Or could it just be that many women who become mothers prefer to cut back their hours, work part-time, decline promotions, overtime and travel away from home so that they can see more of their children? Every survey suggests that women are doing this of their own free will but, hey, what do they know?" http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/12153967/The-gender...

It's a fact that only women can bear children. It's also a fact that women (for whatever reasons---not saying it's right or wrong) opt at a higher rate than men to reduce their hours or leave their career after the birth of a child. So, from a business perspective, there _are_ some additional risks associated with employing women that simply don't exist for men.

Women and men are different and in practice deal with parenthood differently as far as work is concerned. If there's ever to be equal pay for equal work, the discussion will have to include the issues as they are in addition to egalitarian ideals.

Also: http://www.nbcnews.com/better/careers/motherhood-penalty-can...

Re: Google tried to block media coverage of gender discrimination case

#14
This thread is full of so many Google employees. Please when you are employed by Google and critical of the DoJ suit or the Guardian article, keep this in mind. I understand HQs desire to fight this and put it under the rug, but at the same time, they should have complied with the records request. Saying, "just trust us, we are google." Isn't Googley. Numbers are Googley. A best faith effort is Googley.

Re: Google tried to block media coverage of gender discrimination case

#15
post #13
post #11

Why theguardian is making a hit-piece of this? This journalism 2017?

I don't remember when's the last time I saw a non hit piece article from corporate journalists. The audience demands blood.

Yup, Apple, Uber, Facebook, Google, etc.

You really only understand how biased the media is once you've see it happen to your own employer.

Re: Google tried to block media coverage of gender discrimination case

#16
post #14

This thread is full of so many Google employees. Please when you are employed by Google and critical of the DoJ suit or the Guardian article, keep this in mind. I understand HQs desire to fight this and put it under the rug, but at the same time, they should have complied with the records request. Saying, "just trust us, we are google." Isn't Googley. Numbers are Googley. A best faith effort is Googley.

I don't work for google. I'm not even a fan of google right now. No, google shouldn't play along. The media surrounding such topics is so biased and self-serving to the agenda a journalist is trying to push that the less you make public the better off you are because you minimize what material you give for journalists writing about these topics to twist in service of furthering their agenda.

Re: Google tried to block media coverage of gender discrimination case

#17
post #14

This thread is full of so many Google employees. Please when you are employed by Google and critical of the DoJ suit or the Guardian article, keep this in mind. I understand HQs desire to fight this and put it under the rug, but at the same time, they should have complied with the records request. Saying, "just trust us, we are google." Isn't Googley. Numbers are Googley. A best faith effort is Googley.

I don't work for google. I'm not even a fan of google right now. No, google shouldn't play along. The media surrounding such topics is so biased and self-serving to the agenda a journalist is trying to push that the less you make public the better off you are because you minimize what material you give for journalists writing about these topics to twist in service of furthering their agenda.

Google is very committed to gender equality. If there is systematic bias, this would be huge news. The only responsible track to take is to own the narrative and fix it. For whatever reason, some people at Google have played into this by not releasing the numbers initially asked for before the suit.

Re: Google tried to block media coverage of gender discrimination case

#18
post #14

This thread is full of so many Google employees. Please when you are employed by Google and critical of the DoJ suit or the Guardian article, keep this in mind. I understand HQs desire to fight this and put it under the rug, but at the same time, they should have complied with the records request. Saying, "just trust us, we are google." Isn't Googley. Numbers are Googley. A best faith effort is Googley.

I agree that numerical analysis would be helpful, and I'm pretty sure they already released one. As someone who has worked at Google and at other companies, I think some people might just be distressed that Google of all places is being investigated, rather than the litany of workplaces with far worse gender dynamics. I can't speak about specific instances (which inevitably occur everywhere), but in terms of cultural attitudes towards this sort of thing I've never worked at a place more progressively aligned than Google.

Re: Google tried to block media coverage of gender discrimination case

#20
post #18
post #14

This thread is full of so many Google employees. Please when you are employed by Google and critical of the DoJ suit or the Guardian article, keep this in mind. I understand HQs desire to fight this and put it under the rug, but at the same time, they should have complied with the records request. Saying, "just trust us, we are google." Isn't Googley. Numbers are Googley. A best faith effort is Googley.

I agree that numerical analysis would be helpful, and I'm pretty sure they already released one. As someone who has worked at Google and at other companies, I think some people might just be distressed that Google of all places is being investigated, rather than the litany of workplaces with far worse gender dynamics. I can't speak about specific instances (which inevitably occur everywhere), but in terms of cultural…

I agree. But but being, "progressively aligned" isn't proof or evidence. Google _should_ have released both the raw numbers and analysis to the DoL with a full explanation so the same analysis, if fair, should be applied to other companies as well.
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