Google's 'left-wing bias has alienated its own workers': Senior engineer claims colleagues with right-wing views are forced to keep them 'in the closet'

  • An anti-diversity manifesto from a member of Google HQ has been leaked online
  • The unnamed engineer suggested that there were 'biological causes' for underrepresentation of women in technology and leadership
  • It claims women are underrepresented because they are interested in 'people' 
  • The 10-page document stoked a heated debate over treatment of women in the male-dominated Silicon Valley
  • Two Google executives have since criticized the memo that started circulating late last week at the company
  • A Google employee reportedly said the memo had gone 'internally viral'
By DAVID GARDNER FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 14:26 EDT, 6 August 2017 | UPDATED: 23:03 EDT, 6 August 2017
Internet giant Google has been accused by one of its own employees of 'alienating conservatives' with its politically correct left-wing bias.
A senior software engineer at the company claimed in a document that was distributed to colleagues that right-wing employees were forced to keep their views 'in the closet' to avoid hostility.
The unnamed employee's outburst also triggered a gender row as he suggested 'biological causes' and 'neuroticism' were responsible for the lack of women in top tech jobs.
His arguments that men have a higher drive for status and women are 'more prone to anxiety' triggered an angry backlash on social media with demands for the author to be fired. 
The ten page document created by a senior software engineer asks for a reform of Google's current policies (Pictured Google HQ) and encourages a move towards 'ideological diversity' instead
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The ten page document created by a senior software engineer asks for a reform of Google's current policies (Pictured Google HQ) and encourages a move towards 'ideological diversity' instead
The controversial 10-page document - which was first published by technology news site Motherboard and has been circulated on social media - argues that different traits between men and women are key to understanding why women are under-represented in technology companies.  
The engineer claims Google's 'left bias' has created 'a politically correct monoculture that maintains its hold by shaming dissenters into silence'.
tomWhile Google and the U.S. government have set up programs to help women, if a man complains about a gender issue he risks being labelled as 'a misogynist and whiner', the author adds.
'In addition to the Left's affinity for those it sees as weak, humans are generally biased towards protecting females.'
'We need to stop assuming that gender gaps imply sexism,' writes the employee.
'I'm simply stating that the distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes and that these differences may explain why we don't see equal representation of women in tech and leadership.'
The Google worker claims that women are more interested than men in 'feelings and aesthetics rather than ideas' and a 'stronger interest in people rather than things.'
He claims that explains why women 'relatively prefer jobs in social or artistic areas,' adding that more men may like coding because it requires 'systemising' and why more women work on front end, which deals with 'both people and aesthetics'. 

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Google's new Vice President of Diversity, Integrity & Governance, Danielle Brown, (pictured) said the document is 'not a viewpoint that I or this company endorses, promotes or encourages'
The engineer claims Google’s ‘left bias’ has created ‘a politically correct monoculture that maintains its hold by shaming dissenters into silence’
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The engineer claims Google's 'left bias' has created 'a politically correct monoculture that maintains its hold by shaming dissenters into silence'
In the internal document - titled 'Google's Ideological Echo Chamber' - the engineer also says women tend to be more cooperative rather than assertive and more agreeable.
'This leads to women generally having a harder time negotiating salary, asking for raises, speaking up, and leading,' he adds.

A SNAPSHOT OF GOOGLE'S ANTI-DIVERSITY MANIFESTO

The anti-diversity manifesto claimed that Google should focus on 'ideological diversity'.
It criticized company initiatives aimed at increasing gender diversity.
The manifesto claims that biological differences between men and women is responsible for the underrepresentation of females in the tech industry.
He said women tend to be more cooperative rather than assertive and more agreeable - meaning they have a hard time negotiating salary and leading. 
The author added that men have a higher drive for status on average
The engineer behind the document said Google must stop alienating conservatives.
The author blames 'neuroticism' which he describes as 'higher anxiety, lower stress tolerance', which may contribute, 'to the lower number of women in high stress jobs.'
'We always ask why we don't see women in top leadership positions, but we never ask why we see so many men in these jobs.
'These positions often require long, stressful hours that may not be worth it if you want a balanced and fulfilling life,' he writes.
'Women on average look for more work-life balance while men have a higher drive for status on average,' he says, suggesting that more part-time work can 'keep more women in tech'.
The writer says Google's affirmative action programs for people of a 'certain gender or race' and special priority for 'diversity' candidates is discriminatory.
'We're told by senior leadership that what we're doing is both the morally and economically correct thing to do, but without evidence this is just veiled left ideology that can irreparably harm Google,' he claims.
'Discriminating just to increase the representation of women in tech is as misguided and biased as mandating increases for women's representation in the homeless, work-related and violent deaths, prisons, and school dropouts,' he adds.

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In a section of the document titled 'Stop Alienating Conservatives,' he argues for the importance of 'viewpoint diversity.'
'In highly progressive environments, conservatives are a minority that feel like they need to stay in the closet to avoid open hostility,' he claims.
'We should empower those with different ideologies to be able to express themselves.
'Alienating conservatives is both non-inclusive and generally bad business because conservatives tend to be higher in conscientiousness, which is require for much of the drudgery and maintenance work characteristic of a mature company.'
The author was being lambasted on social media.
'I believe he's frustrated that not all people are men who look like him. The struggle is real,' said one tweet.
'If HR does nothing in this case, I will consider leaving this company for real for the first time in five years,' another a Google worker wrote.
Google has distanced itself from the document.
'One of the aspects of the post that troubled me deeply was the bias inherent in suggesting that most women, or men, feel or act a certain way. That is stereotyping, and it is harmful,' wrote Ari Balogh, Google's vice president of engineering.
'Building an open, inclusive environment is core to who we are, and the right thing to do.'
Google's new Vice President of Diversity, Integrity & Governance, Danielle Brown, said the document is 'not a viewpoint that I or this company endorses, promotes or encourages'.
'Many of you have read an internal document shared by someone in our engineering organization, expressing views on the natural abilities and characteristics of different genders, as well as whether one can speak freely of these things at Google.
'And like many of you, I found that it advanced incorrect assumptions about gender.
'We are unequivocal in our belief that diversity and inclusion are critical to our success as a company, and we'll continue to stand for that and be committed to it for the long haul,' she said. 

WHAT GOOGLE'S NEW VP OF DIVERSITY HAD TO SAY:

Googlers,
I'm Danielle, Google's brand new VP of Diversity, Integrity & Governance. I started just a couple of weeks ago, and I had hoped to take another week or so to get the lay of the land before introducing myself to you all. But given the heated debate we've seen over the past few days, I feel compelled to say a few words.
Many of you have read an internal document shared by someone in our engineering organization, expressing views on the natural abilities and characteristics of different genders, as well as whether one can speak freely of these things at Google. And like many of you, I found that it advanced incorrect assumptions about gender. I'm not going to link to it here as it's not a viewpoint that I or this company endorses, promotes or encourages.
Diversity and inclusion are a fundamental part of our values and the culture we continue to cultivate. We are unequivocal in our belief that diversity and inclusion are critical to our success as a company, and we'll continue to stand for that and be committed to it for the long haul. As Ari Balogh said in his internal G+ post, 'Building an open, inclusive environment is core to who we are, and the right thing to do. 'Nuff said. '
Google has taken a strong stand on this issue, by releasing its demographic data and creating a company wide OKR on diversity and inclusion. Strong stands elicit strong reactions. Changing a culture is hard, and it's often uncomfortable. But I firmly believe Google is doing the right thing, and that's why I took this job.
Part of building an open, inclusive environment means fostering a culture in which those with alternative views, including different political views, feel safe sharing their opinions. But that discourse needs to work alongside the principles of equal employment found in our Code of Conduct, policies, and anti-discrimination laws.
I've been in the industry for a long time, and I can tell you that I've never worked at a company that has so many platforms for employees to express themselves—TGIF, Memegen, internal G+, thousands of discussion groups. I know this conversation doesn't end with my email today. I look forward to continuing to hear your thoughts as I settle in and meet with Googlers across the company.
Thanks,
Danielle