No, there are more asians by percentage in tech companies than asians by percentage of the general population.
If asians count for diversity, there is no lack of diversity of tech companies. If asians don't count for diversity, then the author's point is invalid since it shouldn't matter to morale whether or not the fired person was white or asian.
Asians aren't really a minority in the tech industry. Hispanics, african americans, women and other demographic groups are still underrepresented relative to the general population.
You said "Most of the media describes Asians in tech as white - it is the only way to preserve the narrative."
Neither of those articles - from a single source - describe Asians as white; Asian is explicitly broken out as a seperate category and described as a minority.
"It’s no better on the race front, either, with the highest minority being Asian at 34% in tech and next to non-existent in anything else."
Did you miss the fact that Asians are only "overrepresented" in tech, and not in other parts of Google?
Amazon doesn't break the job types into tech and non tech. They do Amazon everything and Amazon management. But even that tech crunch report shows that they have seperated out white, Asian, black, hispanic, and other.
These are weak examples considering the claim you made.
I wonder when/if Asians (incl. Indians) will start to be recognized as being in a disproportionate majority or too-large minority in tech companies. Then, will diversity activists be demanding that companies hire fewer Asians and more white people? Somehow they've been ignored in most of these stories. I suppose because they don't fit the popular believe of white racism?
I can confirm people are singled out everywhere in the tech industry from not being SE Asian. And when they are the caste then will prevent them from moving forward on any front. SE Asians like to hire SE Asians only its pretty horrific and unchecked.
Because factoring Asians (and Indians, for that matter) in to the equation changes the framing of the argument.
Asians are a minority group, but are vastly over-represented in tech, to the point that even white people are under-represented by comparison.
The concern about racial diversity tends to focus on the idea that white hiring managers are subconsciously selective against non-white applicants. This doesn't make sense though when you factor in the minority groups that are actually over-represented.
So what has happened is that the argument has shifted to ignore Asian representation and only focus on black and Latino representation, while still coming to the same conclusion that white hiring managers are subconsciously racist and that the company needs to take corrective action.
The representation of Asians and Indians in tech should not necessarily reduce concerns for other minorities that are under-represented, but should definitely change the way those concerns are framed. The fact that it hasn't suggests that some sort of tomfoolery is afoot.
Reminds me of a kerfluffle that happened a couple months back, mentioned on Volokh:
All the newspaper headlines were proclaiming that the startup world was getting less diverse, and people were very upset at the racism of the tech community. But as it turned out, white representation in the tech sector had actually decreased. The only reason that the numbers said it was becoming less diverse was that Asian people weren't being classed as a non-white minority.
It at least holds for leadership positions in companies. I know at least Tracy Chou has acknowledged the weird position Asians find themselves in here considering they're massively over-represented when you compare U.S. demographics to tech company demographics.
I'm not sure how we measure the end game here as it seems to be more about getting to a point where anyone that wants to work in tech has that opportunity. That likely won't lead to a perfect match between tech demographics and the demographics of their communities but who knows.
You're saying that Asians are more meritorious of positions at large tech companies than people of other ethnicities. That's an extraordinary claim.
By the way, if Asians comprise about 30% of the workforce in the Valley, I wouldn't say they're over-represented. They're probably under-represented, in fact.
IMO, that’s not disingenuous when talking about an industry and using two well known companies as an example.
Asians, especially from India have an out of proportion presence in technology jobs. It is no different than any other ethnic industry affiliation. Irish were cops, Greeks own diners, and South Asians are huge in tech, and have ethnic social networks that connect folks to jobs, just like any other tightly meshed ethnic community.
Indeed. It's funny because I would argue that Asian men represent a notable minority in U.S. tech companies but have very little representation in executive positions at tech companies.
Yeah, this doesn't seem believable at all. East and South Asians are definitely overrepresented (compared to US population) in tech but not by these numbers. Luckily some big companies do publish diversity reports which will easily give information about the actual stats.
Do you believe that because Asian folks have reasonable (maybe even over-) representation in tech, that tech is an inclusive environment for all people of color, as well as women?
Edit: And, another thing!...I believe I've personally seen more anti-Asian racism in tech than most other kinds of racism (though the extreme level of sexism in tech far surpasses any racism I've seen). Fake Indian accents and jokes about English skills abound among nerd circles, for example. It may merely be because I know more Asian tech workers than folks from other races and have worked in environments with a reasonably large Asian population. It is possible to ignore racism or sexism and power through and keep doing your job, but it doesn't mean the environment is welcoming or inclusive.
All of a sudden, Asian people become a minority when it suits the narrative.
There are plenty of Asians (South and East) at all the tech companies being castigated for lack of ethnic diversity. You can't have it both ways.
reply