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This is why I scoff and roll my eyes at individuals who argue that tech is a meritocracy when discrimination between countrymen is happening even in companies l
by cvhashim 6y ago
This is why I scoff and roll my eyes at individuals who argue that tech is a meritocracy when discrimination between countrymen is happening even in companies like Google.
- Loughla 6y agoFrom what I can tell, tech IS a meritocracy. As long as you have the money and/or connections to get into the tech scene.
- MisterBastahrd 6y agoI saw an article about one of Dan Gilbert's spawn who claimed he started his company from nothing. Dan Gilbert is the 69th wealthiest person on the planet. It would be a waste of time and money for him to walk across a street to get a free car.
- throw1234651234 6y agoIt almost has to be - there is no other field where you can make your skills or inability apparent within the first 2 days on the job.
- Loughla 6y agoI think you missed my point.
- secondcoming 6y agoBut don't candidates for Google jobs have to jump through several tedious rounds of interview? How likely is it that there's going to be a snobby Indian in each of those rounds who gets to veto a candidate?
- geofft 6y ago1. Companies like Google tend to want hiring approval to be unanimous or close to unanimous - the more rounds of approval you have, the more likely one person can derail it. (Not to mention team matching, SVP approval, etc.) 2. With enough interviews of enough candidates, this still leaves you with a statistical bias in aggregate, even if it's possible for one candidate to avoid biased interviewers. (The converse of course, is that the experience for a single candidate is quite often worse than the median experience.)
- sulam 6y agoAt Google you get interviewed (usually only one round with multiple people in it) and then your interview feedback goes to a hiring committee and they make the decision. Could the hiring committee identify you as UC? Quite likely based on surname, but I don't know if they see a surname. Also, in the article, the discrimination happened after someone was hired. Promotions (Google again uses a committee system here), project assignments, etc can all be influenced in a way that is impossible for you to "hide" who you are.
- tomp 6y agoNobody argues that tech is a meritocracy. Meritocracy is just an ideal, just like freedom, equality and defensive driving; it’s worth striving towards but you cannot ever reach it (and if you think you’ve reached it, you’ll inevitably start falling behind). Having said that, it’s one of the most meritocratic industries; do you know any billionaire doctors or lawyers that are college dropouts?
- MisterBastahrd 6y agoRand Paul does not have a bachelor's degree. He does have an MD. And is a US Senator. Wonder how that happened. Oh, right, meritocracy.
- kyuudou 6y agoNeat, "today-I-learned". I have to wonder if it being his father's medical school also was a factor, considering it's a private school. But still, that's quite impressive.
- MisterBastahrd 6y agoHe also created his own medical board to certify himself with a take-home test because learning is hard.
- dragonwriter 6y agoThat's not true, he was board certified by an existing board, but created his own (never accepted by anyone that matters, apparently) board to fleece other doctors, or, nominally, at least the first time, to protest the board he was certified by. He then let it lapse by failing to file paperwork, reformed it years later, and let it lapse again.
- ulucs 6y agoWikipedia claims that Duke simply didn't require undergraduate degrees for admission at the time.
- oh_sigh 6y agoWho actually argues that tech is a meritocracy? The diversity/inclusion stuff that is glaringly in your face at large tech companies should indicate that it is not a meritocracy.