Google Sends Its Engineers to College

[Karamjit]

The company wants to diversify its workforce

The fact that Google has very few African-American engineers is no surprise to anyone, but a recently launched project shows that the company is intent on changing the figures.

Google has previously admitted to its lack of diversity in a report showing that African-Americans make up only 2 percent of its workforce. However, it is not a question of racism as some were quick to point out, given that the company decided to come clean about the issue and even expressed their desire to amend the fact that this segment of the population is currently underrepresented in the tech area.

And they seem to have found the appropriate method to do so: sending some of its engineers to teach computer science classes to African-American college students.

Sabrina Williams is one of Google’s employees, and besides her titles of software engineer and Google in Residence, she now has one more to add to her portfolio, namely that of Professor. She has recently had a course on Impostor Syndrome at Howard University in Washington, one of the historically black universities that Google has its eyes on.

The initiative is meant to fix the issue that Google has about diversity. Professor Sabrina is also African American, and she is expected to help students feel more confident about themselves and realize that they have a shot to be among the select few if they try hard enough.

Studies revealed that a great majority of black students didn't apply for jobs at some of the big tech companies simply because they lacked the courage to do it and because they believed they were ill-prepared.
Facebook did it too

But Google is not the first tech company to resort to this kind of method in order to diversify its workforce.

Facebook also has its own University for Engineering, which, although not necessarily addressed to African-American people, is meant to help students who are particularly interested in science and technology take advantage of the opportunity to work with some of the greatest engineers out there, and if they are fit, maybe even work alongside their mentors.

The Google teachers also instruct students on how to successfully wrap up a job interview for an engineering position or how to write a professional email, ABQ Journal reports.

Sabrina Williams, who has a B.A. in Philosophy and a B.S. in Computer Science from Stanford, is confident about the newly launched program, and although she cannot guarantee that it will change things, she expressed her desire for her talented students to one day become her colleagues.

And she seems to be on the right track as students are lining up to take her classes and receive advice and mentorship from some of Google’s renowned engineers.

From: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Google-Sends-Its-Engineers-to-College-480020.shtml

[VileTouch]

what i don't understand is what does ethnicity have to do with it? in a work environment, if you're fit for the job you're in if not, you're out. simple as that. doesn't matter if you're white, black, yellow, blue or green

[vitorio]

what i don't understand is what does ethnicity have to do with it? in a work environment, if you're fit for the job you're in if not, you're out. simple as that. doesn't matter if you're white, black, yellow, blue or green

If they do not do this you may loose some very bright young persons who may otherwise lost the possibility even to compete.

This apply to any ethnic or social condition.

It is just a handicap (various methods of leveling) they gave them, to compete hand to hand (mano a mano), just as in golf.

Put yourself trying to compete with Tiger Woods in golf, if you do get a handicap, your possibility to compete with him is zero.

Or just read the history of the possible USA presidency candidate for the republican party Ben Carson.

[212eta]

what i don't understand is what does ethnicity have to do with it?

in a work environment, if you're fit for the job you're in if not, you're out. simple as that.

doesn't matter if you're white, black, yellow, blue or green.

-Glabalization promotes racial diversity.

-Google supports globalization.

Go figure out...

[VileTouch]

what i don't understand is what does ethnicity have to do with it?

in a work environment, if you're fit for the job you're in if not, you're out. simple as that.

doesn't matter if you're white, black, yellow, blue or green.

-Glabalization promotes racial diversity.

-Google supports globalization.

Go figure out...

yes, but my point being that racial diversity for the sake of racial diversity is pointless. it's an entirely different matter if, say, they meet this brilliant...err... Kenyan programmer, for instance. with lots of experience, and choose to hire him instead of a couple of residents with the ink in their diplomas still wet.

reason being, if after hiring that cool Kenyan guy, a Brazilian one comes over, chances are they would say: "Sorry, we already exceeded or quota of black people, so we can't hire you. only taking asian hires now" or something equally stupid.

[Arachnoid]

I guess as a global business its more to be seen to be a multi racial employer but as with any buisness its clear that the goal is clearly unsustainable

[rasbridge]

How many employees do they have from the Arab World? How many Pacific Islanders do they employ? Anyway, selecting employees based upon their ethnicity, race, etc. for diversification purposes rather than simply hiring the best available candidate is a slippery slope.

[dMog]

what i don't understand is what does ethnicity have to do with it?

in a work environment, if you're fit for the job you're in if not, you're out. simple as that.

doesn't matter if you're white, black, yellow, blue or green.

-Glabalization promotes racial diversity.

-Google supports globalization.

Go figure out...

yes, but my point being that racial diversity for the sake of racial diversity is pointless. it's an entirely different matter if, say, they meet this brilliant...err... Kenyan programmer, for instance. with lots of experience, and choose to hire him instead of a couple of residents with the ink in their diplomas still wet.

reason being, if after hiring that cool Kenyan guy, a Brazilian one comes over, chances are they would say: "Sorry, we already exceeded or quota of black people, so we can't hire you. only taking asian hires now" or something equally stupid.

they are actually doing this right now in many areas... the RCMP ....The royal Canadian mounted police pretty much are not even looking at white men right now to join their force and have been doing so for quite some time.... do not matter how qualified you are id a woman or ethnic back ground applies at the same time you get bumped to the bottom of the list,,,and if the people in front of you are not educated enough or cannot pass the physical requirements they lower the bar so thy can meet the requirements in these special cases

[VileTouch]

what i don't understand is what does ethnicity have to do with it?

in a work environment, if you're fit for the job you're in if not, you're out. simple as that.

doesn't matter if you're white, black, yellow, blue or green.

-Glabalization promotes racial diversity.

-Google supports globalization.

Go figure out...

yes, but my point being that racial diversity for the sake of racial diversity is pointless. it's an entirely different matter if, say, they meet this brilliant...err... Kenyan programmer, for instance. with lots of experience, and choose to hire him instead of a couple of residents with the ink in their diplomas still wet.

reason being, if after hiring that cool Kenyan guy, a Brazilian one comes over, chances are they would say: "Sorry, we already exceeded or quota of black people, so we can't hire you. only taking asian hires now" or something equally stupid.

they are actually doing this right now in many areas... the RCMP ....The royal Canadian mounted police pretty much are not even looking at white men right now to join their force and have been doing so for quite some time.... do not matter how qualified you are id a woman or ethnic back ground applies at the same time you get bumped to the bottom of the list,,,and if the people in front of you are not educated enough or cannot pass the physical requirements they lower the bar so thy can meet the requirements in these special cases

exactly, they pull this rigmarole to appear "not racist" because "globalization and racial diversity" but the core of it is extremely... ok let's use another word: discriminatory.