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Meta's memo to employees rolling back DEI programs

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Re: Meta's memo to employees rolling back DEI programs

#991

Post by l0t0b0r0s »

GiorgioG wrote: post #879
qingcharles wrote: post #772

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not that simple. Without DEI you end up with products created by white men for white men. DEI means you end up employing some people who potentially aren't as technically qualified, but bring a different viewpoint to the team. Until I spent a long time living with Blacks (as a white) I never knew all the things they go through growing up, I never knew how their communities and families were organized, I never kn…

> employing some people who potentially aren't as technically qualified, but bring a different viewpoint to the team I would be pretty pissed off if I couldn't hire a the best qualified person in favor of someone with a different viewpoint that's not materially relevant to the position. > My life experience was a bubble that was cut off from a significant portion of the population. No offense, but nothing is stopping…

But did you consider his subscription to Essence magazine? How are we going to meet this coding deadline if we arent aware of black peoples fashion trends? give your head a shake.

Re: Meta's memo to employees rolling back DEI programs

#992

Post by danny_codes »

gorgoiler wrote: post #124

Diversity in tech hiring never felt like the right end of the funnel. It’s why I went into teaching and I’m proud to say after what seems like a ridiculously short amount of time (“they grow up so fast” etc.) the girls from my classes are now entering the work force as SWE and ML interns. Not many, but more than none. When we focus diversity efforts on high school kids then we get a turnaround at the funnel entrypoin…

Completely agree.

IMO we should start with paid maternity/paternity leave, childcare subsidies, and free Pre-K. Just get things started on the right foot.

I think we're the only developed country without paid maternity leave. It's pathetic.

Re: Meta's memo to employees rolling back DEI programs

#993

Post by kevinventullo »

jdminhbg wrote: post #548
MattyMc wrote: post #279

> The Supreme Court of the United States has recently made decisions signaling a shift in how courts will approach DEI. Does anyone know what decisions he's referring to?

SFFA v Harvard ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Students_for_Fair_Admissions_v... ) outlawed affirmative action in public institutions, but I think most legal observers assume that if someone brings a case against the same thing in private institutions to the Supreme Court, they'll outlaw it there too.

Harvard is a private institution.

Re: Meta's memo to employees rolling back DEI programs

#995

Post by Chilko »

gorgoiler wrote: post #124

Diversity in tech hiring never felt like the right end of the funnel. It’s why I went into teaching and I’m proud to say after what seems like a ridiculously short amount of time (“they grow up so fast” etc.) the girls from my classes are now entering the work force as SWE and ML interns. Not many, but more than none. When we focus diversity efforts on high school kids then we get a turnaround at the funnel entrypoin…

I totally agree. At the previous company I worked for, we decided to sponsor a 3-year scholarship (paid directly to the student, not just covering fees) at a local uni that targeted high-school leavers from demographics that were underrepresented in both our company and the wider industry we were in (renewables/energy sector). Trying to hire more people from those demographics is futile if the candidates don't exist, so the idea was to encourage people to choose this pathway.

The scholarship is for students who would choose a certain program/specialization relevant for our industry and includes a paid summer internship at our company after their 2nd or 3rd year of study. Having mentored some of these students when they were interns (capable and bright students with promising futures), they said that this scholarship helped them choose this career path whereas otherwise they may have just tried to get into tech like many others at that university.

Note this was not in the USA but in New Zealand where we have a different colonial history we are reckoning with. The scholarship targeted women, Maori (our indigenous culture), and Pacific Islanders (a large ethnic minority in NZ). This less about meeting any ratios or quotas (we didn't have those), but rather we felt a distinct lack of e.g. Maori voices in our company and the industry which is a problem when you are frequently interacting with Maori stakeholders and landowners in energy project development (and indigenous relations and historical landonwership plays a large role in our consenting & planning process).

Re: Meta's memo to employees rolling back DEI programs

#996

Post by Viliam1234 »

sfifs wrote: post #583
Viliam1234 wrote: post #554

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> lack of educational resources Could you please explain this part? I am not sure how you meant it. Is the main problem that the resources are not in the language of your tribe? Or is that a lack of educational resources regardless of language (e.g. simply not enough textbooks to give to each child)? What kind of educational resources do you wish you had?

Interesting comment... I keep getting surprised by implicit first world assumptions on HN. I'm not the OP but you could consider hypothetically as an example, would great teachers largely choose to settle in PNW?

Not sure where you see assumptions. There are many possible problems, and I don't know OP's situation, which is why I was asking what is the main problem there. Sometimes it's teachers. Sometimes it's textbooks. Sometimes it's not having a roof above your head. Sometimes the kids are starving and can't focus on the lessons. Sometimes it's different language.

> would great teachers largely choose to settle in PNW?

One possible reason is that some of them could be born there. Again, this differs between communities. Some of them respect their smartest members. Some kick them out.

Re: Meta's memo to employees rolling back DEI programs

#997

Post by Viliam1234 »

antics wrote: post #637
Viliam1234 wrote: post #554

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> lack of educational resources Could you please explain this part? I am not sure how you meant it. Is the main problem that the resources are not in the language of your tribe? Or is that a lack of educational resources regardless of language (e.g. simply not enough textbooks to give to each child)? What kind of educational resources do you wish you had?

Great questions. The kids mostly speak English as first language, and the schools are in English. With the exception of one huge twist, the schools have many educational difficulties you'll find in rural America generally—it's hard to get money for materials and curriculum, hard to recruit good teachers, hard to get students connected to people with practical advice/guidance, hard to get connected to opportunities, h…

> I am stating these as a neutral facts on purpose. Regardless of how we got here, the hand is ours to play.

Yeah.

English as a first language is a huge advantage (you have most of the internet at your disposal, with tons of educational resources), but illiteracy is a huge problem.

> hard to recruit good teachers

Good teachers are rare. I wonder if you could find some people to teach who are not teachers in the usual sense. People having a different job, or university students, who would just come and teach kids one lesson a week. It's not perfect, but it could be the most popular lesson, just because it is unusual.

But the important part would be to grow your own teachers; help the best kids become the teachers of the next generation. Maybe you could encourage kids to do this from the start; for example, take the best kids at each grade, and tell them to teach some younger kids one lesson a week.

I wish I could help, but I'm on the opposite side of the planet.

Re: Meta's memo to employees rolling back DEI programs

#998

Post by nothercastle »

seadan83 wrote: post #413
lolinder wrote: post #371

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. What too few people realized was that the rollout of DEI was driven by what was trending at the time, designed to win political points with the groups that were politically ascendant. These programs were never a victory for the principles or the people, they were marketing. So it should come as no shock whatsoever that now that another political group is politically ascendant the marketing that is valuable has c…

I agree with most of your points. Though with respect lasting change, where is your impression coming from that the gains are in the last 10 to 15 years? Or even that is a widespread belief? According to reporting at the guardian [1], FBs DEI program increased black and brown employees from 8% to 12%. Seems abysmal. My perspective, US society is still fighting for gains that _started_ 160 years ago. Still painstaking…

Why is that terrible? 14% of the US is black that seems reasonable considering other economical and educational disadvantages black Americas face.

Re: Meta's memo to employees rolling back DEI programs

#999

Post by myroon5 »

antics wrote: post #641
akoboldfrying wrote: post #412

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>to have an impact you must have courage to say no to the vast majority of social issues you could care about, and then commit deeply to the ones you decide to work on. I strongly agree, but sadly I think what you're saying here is probably almost incomprehensible to a broad swathe of middle-class white Americans, to whom being seen to be outwardly supportive of every DEI-ish cause has essentially become something li…

In our area, it is mostly resorts and casinos. Economic development gives everyone in the area jobs and opportunities. This has changed the picture from "Indians begging the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and local government for resources" to "we have a robust economic engine which is a critical part of the greater surrounding community, and which we'd mostly all like to succeed, but need to work through details on.…

casinos 'changed the conversation from a zero sum game'?

Re: Meta's memo to employees rolling back DEI programs

#1000

Post by LetsGetTechnicl »

coliveira wrote: post #425
LetsGetTechnicl wrote: post #366

[flagged]

This is a society that openly supports and roots for billionaires. Most of them are getting what they deserve as subjects of the modern oligarchy.

Yeah, and it sucks. But Zuckerberg is still a sociopath, though. He has a tight grip on how Meta operates and is laser-focused on making his apps and the content they feed people worse so people enrage because they for all the fake lies and misinformation, or because it's rage bait for others.
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