[bouis]

My head is not in the sand. Your head is in the sand if you say that every single tech company condones sexual harassment. It's actually an extraordinary claim that's hard to believe, but it's become so common to make bold claims about the ubiquity and universality of racism and sexism that it sounds normal to us. The idea is that if a woman is saying she likes her job as an engineer and doesn't feel mistreated, there's something wrong with that story and I'm sure she could dig a little deeper and remember a night out where somebody made an inappropriate comment, or she wasn't invited along, or she was just in some way treated differently because of her gender. If you take it that far, you're not just fixing tech company cultures, you're fixing the patriarchy, and that's not something that a bunch of consultants can fix. I think we need to be more specific about what we're trying to fix and where the problem begins and ends, otherwise we'll just put together ineffective diversity initiatives that never really gain traction. It can't be taboo to be critical about the effectiveness of diversity and inclusion programs, otherwise we'll all just wind up with our heads in the sand, hoping we aren't next on some journalist's hit list.