Companies like Uber in particular have been hit by allegations of pervasive discrimination and harassment against women.
Since the firing of the ex-Google engineer, it was revealed that more than 60 female employees are considering bringing class-action lawsuits against the company over alleged sexism and pay inequality.
In Damore’s memo, he wrote that: “Women, on average, have more openness directed towards feelings and aesthetics rather than ideas. Women generally also have a stronger interest in people rather than things, relative to men (also interpreted as empathizing vs. systemizing).”
He also argued that “neuroticism (higher anxiety, lower stress tolerance)” could be a factor in “the lower number of women in high stress jobs.”
Danielle Browne, Google’s vice president of diversity, wrote a memo in response, alleging the document “advanced incorrect assumptions about gender” and that “it’s not a viewpoint that I or this company endorses, promotes or encourages.”
He defended himself over the backlash against his memo, claiming that there was consensus among psychologists that biological differences accounted for different “personality traits” between men and women.
