Research on the Google Memo

As many of you know by now, an internal memo sent by James Damore, a (now former) Google software engineer created an internet storm after the memo became public and widely read. It’s a complicated essay that seems to have been misinterpreted by many but raises questions and challenges assumptions. I suggest you start with reading the essay itself, in its entirety, then the post that Sundar Pichai (Google's CEO) wrote after firing Mr. Damore.

Google’s Code of Conduct is available online and provides the framework that Mr. Damore and Mr. Pichai were supposedly operating within. Sean Stevens and Jonathan Haidt at Heterodox Academy provide links to and summaries of a significant number of studies that largely support Mr. Damore’s points, but also question them. Conor Friedersdorf comments about the media portrayal of the events, noting that the media is largely within the same ideological echo chamber that Mr. Damore believes Google to be in.