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White men are over represented at large tech companies? White people make up around 80% of the U.S. population [0]. They make up less than 60% of tech workers a

White men are over represented at large tech companies? White people make up around 80% of the U.S. population [0]. They make up less than 60% of tech workers at Google[1] and less than 55% of tech workers at Facebook[2]. That's underrepresented. Asian Americans make up less than 5% of the U.S. population[0], but almost 35% of tech workers at Google[1] and 36% of tech employees at Facebook[2]. That's over representation by a factor of about 7 times. Yet, the media will continue to harp on the over representation of white people at tech companies. Why? Because "diversity" really only means "not white". BTW: I bring this up not because I want fewer Asian Americans in tech or more white people in tech, but to point out the hypocrisy of the reporting on diversity in tech. [0] https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/... [1] http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2015/06/google-diversity-statistics-barely-impoved http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2015/06/google-diversity-sta... [2] http://recode.net/2015/06/25/facebook-employee-demographics-a-little-less-white-a-little-less-male/ http://recode.net/2015/06/25/facebook-employee-demographics-...

duaneb 11y ago
You think that 80% of the US is male, let alone white male? There are some big problems with your argument. And it's exactly this type of argument that is the problem: underrepresentation as a majority is far less of a problem than underrepresentation as a minority.
- throwit542 11y ago
  If you read my post more closely, I wasn't talking about white men, but white people. It's pretty clear that the facts show that women are underrepresented in tech.
  - Joeboy 11y ago
    To be fair the combined overrepresentation of men and underrepresentation of white people may well mean white men are overrepresented, and you started your post with the words "White men". But yeah, in terms of ethnicity those figures are not what you would expect from reading some media representations of the tech industry. I'll be interested to hear what the big problems and flawed reasoning alluded to elsewhere are.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
KirinDave 11y ago
Your argument is using some old data and substantially flawed reasoning and I'll let other people talk about it. But there is one thing I want to point out: It is possible to be both marginalized in one aspect and privileged in another. It is definitely the case for Asian Americans in tech. Very few will say they're not (in aggregate, individual experiences vary of course!) better off than other people of color in this field, even as they also suffer racism. The numbers, as you suggest, do not lie. It's a similar phenomenon to the treatment of homosexual people in tech on the west coast. Just because someone is a gay man doesn't make them suddenly not white, for example. This is a really important and often overlooked feature of intersectional feminism: nearly everyone has privilege even if they're also marginalized. That's why it's such a worthy cause, nearly everyone has something substantial to gain.
- throwit542 11y ago
  >Your argument is using some old data and substantially flawed reasoning and I'll let other people talk about it If I'm not mistaken, all of those sources are from 2015. You seem to be interpreting my statement of the facts regarding demographics in the tech industry as as a statement that I believe Asian Americans are privileged. I'm not saying that. I think tech is the closest industry to an honest meritocracy that exists, and if there are more Asian Americans in tech than white people, then it's probably because of differences in ambition and the extent to which education is valued. But, I brought up those stats not to make that point, just to prove the point that the way the media, and popular perception views diversity in tech is wrong.
  - Eridrus 11y ago
    The CIA data is from 2007 and counts all hispanic/latino people as white. Wikipedia places the white population at 63.7% based on the 2000 census. So while it changes nothing about your comments about Asian people being over-represented, it does show that white people are not really underrepresented significantly.
- millermp12 11y ago
  Is it too much to ask social justice warriors to refrain from nonsensical gum flapping like "intersectional feminism?" It the kind of thing stupid people say to sound intelligent and a complete giveaway

duaneb 11y ago

You think that 80% of the US is male, let alone white male? There are some big problems with your argument. And it's exactly this type of argument that is the problem: underrepresentation as a majority is far less of a problem than underrepresentation as a minority.

throwit542 11y ago
If you read my post more closely, I wasn't talking about white men, but white people. It's pretty clear that the facts show that women are underrepresented in tech.
- Joeboy 11y ago
  To be fair the combined overrepresentation of men and underrepresentation of white people may well mean white men are overrepresented, and you started your post with the words "White men". But yeah, in terms of ethnicity those figures are not what you would expect from reading some media representations of the tech industry. I'll be interested to hear what the big problems and flawed reasoning alluded to elsewhere are.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]

KirinDave 11y ago

Your argument is using some old data and substantially flawed reasoning and I'll let other people talk about it. But there is one thing I want to point out: It is possible to be both marginalized in one aspect and privileged in another. It is definitely the case for Asian Americans in tech. Very few will say they're not (in aggregate, individual experiences vary of course!) better off than other people of color in this field, even as they also suffer racism. The numbers, as you suggest, do not lie. It's a similar phenomenon to the treatment of homosexual people in tech on the west coast. Just because someone is a gay man doesn't make them suddenly not white, for example. This is a really important and often overlooked feature of intersectional feminism: nearly everyone has privilege even if they're also marginalized. That's why it's such a worthy cause, nearly everyone has something substantial to gain.

throwit542 11y ago
>Your argument is using some old data and substantially flawed reasoning and I'll let other people talk about it If I'm not mistaken, all of those sources are from 2015. You seem to be interpreting my statement of the facts regarding demographics in the tech industry as as a statement that I believe Asian Americans are privileged. I'm not saying that. I think tech is the closest industry to an honest meritocracy that exists, and if there are more Asian Americans in tech than white people, then it's probably because of differences in ambition and the extent to which education is valued. But, I brought up those stats not to make that point, just to prove the point that the way the media, and popular perception views diversity in tech is wrong.
- Eridrus 11y ago
  The CIA data is from 2007 and counts all hispanic/latino people as white. Wikipedia places the white population at 63.7% based on the 2000 census. So while it changes nothing about your comments about Asian people being over-represented, it does show that white people are not really underrepresented significantly.
millermp12 11y ago
Is it too much to ask social justice warriors to refrain from nonsensical gum flapping like "intersectional feminism?" It the kind of thing stupid people say to sound intelligent and a complete giveaway