I was having a conversation with a couple of friends over the weekend who DO NOT work in tech and they made a blanket statement that racism is pervasive in the tech industry. I made the argument that - like any other large industry there are bad apples and tech has its fair share of racism / sexism / gender pay-gap and other discrimination issues but I honestly felt that it was not pervasive and that it was a corner case in most companies. The companies themselves have handled it poorly in many cases and need to do a better job. I’m a brown dude and have had a few incidents myself but nothing that has prevented myself from growing and thriving in the industry. I’m very well aware of the instances of racism at FAANG and other companies in the recent years by people of all color. This also includes the racism by brown people against other brown people. I hold the belief that in general tech needs to do better but I don’t believe racism is widespread in tech. It is still a place where hustle and merit eventually win. My friends think I’m ignorant. I’m genuinely looking to learn and change my beliefs. Am I wrong ? Do I need to better educate myself ? What do you think ?
Def not as bad as most industries in usa
I mean. There's a pretty obvious bamboo ceiling at FB. Percent of leadership vs employees is very mismatched and almost all of the representation is women. But we've learned to live with and accept racism. It's not getting fixed in my lifetime
Tech is not a meritocracy. If you believe that, then yes, you are ignorant. Glad you have friends that can give it to you straight.
Nothing is a meritocracy. I would argue that tech is more of one than most things though. Tech companies at least attempt to base decisions on data and definitely care more about DEI than the median.
Like with anything, when you have a hammer everything looks like a nail. Is there racism present in every industry? Yes, of course yes. Is it this gargantuan issue stopping everyone who isn’t white from entering, advancing or being comfortable? NO Are some things more difficult for some and not as difficult for others? YES. But that’s life. We all have our advantages and disadvantages and it’s good to work toward leveling the playing field so there is equality of opportunity, not equality of outcome. People that want to get on a soapbox and yell that racism is this hyper widespread and malicious thing are just looking for ways to be offended. Using that word is a conversation ender. There is no moving forward from it. The accusation alone derails everything and leaves no room for anything else, as it should, so maybe we should all stop throwing it around so carelessly.
“Are some things more difficult for some and not as difficult for others? YES. But that’s life.” This is what upholding white supremacy looks like.
Please explain how accepting that things are more difficult for some than it is for others is anything other than accepting reality? Would you honestly try to say that someone who is disabled does not have more to deal with than someone who is not? I was in no way saying racism is ok, but honestly let’s not simply get triggered when anyone points out an easily understandable concept.
Racism/sexism doesn’t always present itself overtly. It can be as subtle as rejecting minority interview candidates as a “bad culture fit”. It can be subtle as excluding certain engineers from design meetings. Sometimes management positions are offered to people who speak better English. Sure, racism/sexism is everywhere but it also doesn’t mean that you can discount the tech industry. How many female engineers are in your org? How many black engineers are there? Would love to hear your distribution.
As someone who passes as white, I definitely overhear comments criticizing the English of non-native speakers. I’m half Asian. English is my mother’s second language. My stepfather speaks a small amount of English. If I have a hard time understanding what someone just said, I simply politely ask them to repeat it. I don’t talk louder and slow my speech to ridiculous levels. I enunciate and give space for clarifying questions. I don’t talk shit about English proficiency levels behind people’s backs. It’s incredibly hard to learn a second language well enough to work in a role that primarily uses that language. Also. When you ask an Asian person “where are you from?” And they answer “Tacoma” or “Missoula”, the appropriate response is not to ask louder and slower “NO I MEAN WHERE ARE YOU FROOOOOM?” It’s also not correct to ask what someone’s nationality is, unless you know for a fact that they weren’t born in the country you are currently in. Ethnicity would be the correct term. And the worst one I’ve gotten is “so…what kind of Asian are you?”
@MS - if someone wants to know which Asian country your ancestors come from, how would you have them phrase it? Using the word "ethnicity" feels weird. Would "where does your family come from?" (a common way in which white people ask this to each other) offend you?
Don't know about racism but in India, sexism is definitely pervasive. Females get in much easily into FAANG+ as compared to males.
They went pretty hard on trying to up their numbers with regard to the male to female ratio — I’m sure in a few years (maybe?) things will cool down
Indians love to hire Indians
So personally you’ve experienced occasional racism, therefore you conclude that it’s not a widespread issue. Because personally you haven’t been screwed by it constantly and consistently. Do you see a hole in this logic?
Racism is pervasive in the US. Period.
Anyone who thinks this hasn’t been to many other countries.
Like where? I mean I'm a foreigner and have been treated well everywhere in the us
Stupid options for this poll.