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Behind the Headlines: 3 St. Louis women in tech respond to that controversial Google memo

Crystal Martin, Haley Shoaf and Tamarah Usher discuss  the challenges women in the tech and startup world face.
Kelly Moffitt | St. Louis Public Radio
Crystal Martin, Haley Shoaf and Tamarah Usher discuss the challenges women in the tech and startup world face.

Last week, news began circulating of a controversial internal memo, written by a former senior software engineer at Google, titled “Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber,” which called for Google to replace diversity initiatives with “ideological diversity” initiatives.

The author of the memo, now named as James Damore, expounded on the idea that gender gaps at the company were a result of biological differences between men and women, not institutional sexism or racism at the company.

The memo incensed many and sparked a lot of conversation online, at startup, tech companies and otherwise, about diversity in the workplace. On Friday’s Behind the Headlines, we discussed the memo and the experiences of women in tech on St. Louis on the Air.

Joining the program for the discussion:

  • Crystal Martin, CoderGirl Program Director at LaunchCode
  • Haley Shoaf, Education Operations Director at LaunchCode
  • Tamarah Usher, Principal Consultant, at Slalom, a technology consulting firm with offices in Clayton

Listen to the full discussion:

St. Louis on the Air brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh and producers Mary EdwardsAlex Heuer and Kelly Moffitt give you the information you need to make informed decisions and stay in touch with our diverse and vibrant St. Louis region. 

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Kelly Moffitt joined St. Louis Public Radio in 2015 as an online producer for St. Louis Public Radio's talk shows St. Louis on the Air.