4 ms·

It's hard to say exactly how much it means, but it's at least interesting to note that the people that "left the group" are all women and the people added to th

It's hard to say exactly how much it means, but it's at least interesting to note that the people that "left the group" are all women and the people added to the group are all men.

friendstock 15y ago
Yes, I just noticed the same thing. Could be coincidence, but I think having some diversity would be helpful as the remaining L team seems to be all male.
rachelbythebay 15y ago
It's almost like there was a big presentation, and all of these people were up on stage, and there was just one woman. Then it's almost like someone in the crowd asked about the ratio situation, and to "answer", the CEO threw the question at the one woman. And then, it's like the fire of a thousand suns flashed in her eyes. Oh, wait, it's not just like that. It is that, because it happened.
- slykat 15y ago
  I find this a bit unfair - taking two data points to make a statement about gender discrimination at Google. Here's another datapoint - Google recently hired Margo Georgiadis, a female, to the 2nd highest position in Sales - a historically male function. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/24/margo-georgiadis-groupon-coo-google_n_979254.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/24/margo-georgiadis-gr...) The top position is taken by Nikesh who is the highest paid executive at Google. So Margo is definitely one of the highest paid VPs at Google. How important is this position? Well, the last person, Dennis Woodside, now handles Motorola. And the guy before him became the CEO of AOL. Also, Margo is responsible for majority of revenue at Google. This doesn't prove anything but I just wanted to add another data point to the discussion.
  - rachelbythebay 15y ago
    There are many more data points. I lived it. These are just the ones which are (finally) getting out to the world.
- Nate75Sanders 15y ago
  I think I may be missing a reference here. Someone help?
- irahul 15y ago
  Your metaphor is completely lost on me. Care to elaborate?
  - rachelbythebay 15y ago
    It's not a metaphor. It really happened. All of the "full birds" were up on stage, and it was a bunch of guys, just like the article reflects. Someone asked the question, and the brand new CEO threw the question to the (token?) female. I swear her eyes almost glowed like one of those Stargate aliens for a moment before she took a breath and gave what must have been a well-rehearsed non-inflammatory answer. This was a pretty big event: rolling out the new crew. A few thousand people saw it. Anyone else want to comment to back me up?
    - abraham 15y ago
      What event was it?
marshallp 15y ago
Larry might be following the scientific evidence that having attractive women in the workplace reduces men's intelligence.
- lmkg 15y ago
  But what about the scientific evidence that the performance of mixed-gender groups is higher than homogeneous groups of either gender? Funny thing, scientific evidence...
  - shuzchen 15y ago
    If they controlled for it, the results from the mixed-gender groups should be more applicable assuming an normal distribution of attractiveness. That doesn't run contradictory to the hypothesis that a non-normal distribution (that is, skewed on the attractive side) can hurt said performance.
  - gwern 15y ago
    The one recent study in that vein I remember had serious problems if you wanted to generalize it at all. Did you have something else in mind?
- baby 15y ago
  I think you're getting downvoted because it is a controversial idea. I don't think it's off-topic though. There are some taboo problems that happen in a small team of people who spend a lot of time together.
- schrototo 15y ago
  For the same reason we shouldn't allow openly gay people into programming teams, because it would negatively affect team morale...
jdp23 15y ago
Yeah, I'm noticing a pattern here ... https://plus.google.com/u/0/115324919838980591640/posts/LaEL5xVAFwJ https://plus.google.com/u/0/115324919838980591640/posts/LaEL...
johnl 15y ago
I noticed the same thing, though: maps and local services, public affairs, and business operations sound like departments best lead one on one. I would assume the departments in the inner circle have more need for coordination and direct leadership.
redthrowaway 15y ago
More relevantly, the people who left were all product people, and those who stayed were operations. This is hardly surprising given that Page is known as a product guy.

It's hard to say exactly how much it means, but it's at least interesting to note that the people that "left the group" are all women and the people added to the group are all men.

friendstock 15y ago

Yes, I just noticed the same thing. Could be coincidence, but I think having some diversity would be helpful as the remaining L team seems to be all male.

rachelbythebay 15y ago

It's almost like there was a big presentation, and all of these people were up on stage, and there was just one woman. Then it's almost like someone in the crowd asked about the ratio situation, and to "answer", the CEO threw the question at the one woman. And then, it's like the fire of a thousand suns flashed in her eyes. Oh, wait, it's not just like that. It is that, because it happened.

slykat 15y ago
I find this a bit unfair - taking two data points to make a statement about gender discrimination at Google. Here's another datapoint - Google recently hired Margo Georgiadis, a female, to the 2nd highest position in Sales - a historically male function. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/24/margo-georgiadis-groupon-coo-google_n_979254.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/24/margo-georgiadis-gr...) The top position is taken by Nikesh who is the highest paid executive at Google. So Margo is definitely one of the highest paid VPs at Google. How important is this position? Well, the last person, Dennis Woodside, now handles Motorola. And the guy before him became the CEO of AOL. Also, Margo is responsible for majority of revenue at Google. This doesn't prove anything but I just wanted to add another data point to the discussion.
- rachelbythebay 15y ago
  There are many more data points. I lived it. These are just the ones which are (finally) getting out to the world.
Nate75Sanders 15y ago
I think I may be missing a reference here. Someone help?
irahul 15y ago
Your metaphor is completely lost on me. Care to elaborate?
- rachelbythebay 15y ago
  It's not a metaphor. It really happened. All of the "full birds" were up on stage, and it was a bunch of guys, just like the article reflects. Someone asked the question, and the brand new CEO threw the question to the (token?) female. I swear her eyes almost glowed like one of those Stargate aliens for a moment before she took a breath and gave what must have been a well-rehearsed non-inflammatory answer. This was a pretty big event: rolling out the new crew. A few thousand people saw it. Anyone else want to comment to back me up?
  - abraham 15y ago
    What event was it?

marshallp 15y ago

Larry might be following the scientific evidence that having attractive women in the workplace reduces men's intelligence.

lmkg 15y ago
But what about the scientific evidence that the performance of mixed-gender groups is higher than homogeneous groups of either gender? Funny thing, scientific evidence...
- shuzchen 15y ago
  If they controlled for it, the results from the mixed-gender groups should be more applicable assuming an normal distribution of attractiveness. That doesn't run contradictory to the hypothesis that a non-normal distribution (that is, skewed on the attractive side) can hurt said performance.
- gwern 15y ago
  The one recent study in that vein I remember had serious problems if you wanted to generalize it at all. Did you have something else in mind?
baby 15y ago
I think you're getting downvoted because it is a controversial idea. I don't think it's off-topic though. There are some taboo problems that happen in a small team of people who spend a lot of time together.
schrototo 15y ago
For the same reason we shouldn't allow openly gay people into programming teams, because it would negatively affect team morale...

jdp23 15y ago

Yeah, I'm noticing a pattern here ... https://plus.google.com/u/0/115324919838980591640/posts/LaEL5xVAFwJ https://plus.google.com/u/0/115324919838980591640/posts/LaEL...

johnl 15y ago

I noticed the same thing, though: maps and local services, public affairs, and business operations sound like departments best lead one on one. I would assume the departments in the inner circle have more need for coordination and direct leadership.

redthrowaway 15y ago

More relevantly, the people who left were all product people, and those who stayed were operations. This is hardly surprising given that Page is known as a product guy.