A Letter From CEO Bobby Kotick Regarding Progress and Commitments Made at Acti-Blizz

[deenman]

if you consider a couple decades of increasing financial investments merely a spoon, then what do you suggest instead?

simply forcing women into technical education? promising them a free house or something if they graduate? maybe forcing young girls to play with boys toys at an early age?

theres only so much you can do in a free country.

it is a spoon,but the thing is,i dont even think its posible to be in a state of actual equality,people will always have biases and discrimination,its human nature,i was discriminated as a young kid for being left handed and was literaly abused for it by parents and teachers

[Kralljin]

well lets focus atleast on no longer letting the fires burn down the village

I'm all up for HR actually investigating allegations, rather than trying to protect the interests of the company and for hiring / promoting the most competent people for a job.

A quota can however absolutely have the side effect of people being hired / promoted in order to fill that quota, rather than the most competent for the job, especially in an industry where over 2/3 of workers are male.

[ClassicPeon]

well lets focus atleast on no longer letting the fires burn down the village

Sweden is, along with denmark, one of the most egalitarian countries on earth. Studies show that the more egalitarian a country gets the less diversity we see in fields like tech for instance. Any info we have points towards women in general just not being as interested in those kinds of fields as men are.

Do we then start forcing women into these fields so we can meet some arbituary gender quotas?

[DingDongKing]

Sweden is, along with denmark, one of the most egalitarian countries on earth. Studies show that the more egalitarian a country gets the less diversity we see in fields like tech for instance. Any info we have points towards women in general just not being as interested in those kinds of fields as men are.

Do we then start forcing women into these fields so we can meet some arbituary gender quotas?

Not every country is Sweden and Denmark.

[deenman]

Sweden is, along with denmark, one of the most egalitarian countries on earth. Studies show that the more egalitarian a country gets the less diversity we see in fields like tech for instance. Any info we have points towards women in general just not being as interested in those kinds of fields as men are.

Do we then start forcing women into these fields so we can meet some arbituary gender quotas?

that makes no sense,how does making more diverse hires result in less diversity?

[ClassicPeon]

that makes no sense,how does making more diverse hires result in less diversity?

You should probably try to reread my post.

Egalitarianism != gender quotas

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Not every country is Sweden and Denmark.

No but he is from Sweden and i am from Denmark - and the point still stands.

More egalitarianism = higher split in genders

[Xath]

No, it means you recruit fairly, not giving the white guy automatic preference because you think "guys make better developers" or because your recruit knows someone at a desk on the 3rd floor offices.

The fact is the current system, as history shows and many are admitting, has been discriminating against everyone else in preference of white males.

That doesn't happen now. An eye towards diversity means you are giving the non white/asian guys preferential treatment. You do not solve racism or sexism with more racism and sexism.

[Kralljin]

that makes no sense,how does making more diverse hires result in less diversity?

he didn't say "more diverse", he said "egalitarian", meaning that people have the same rights / opportunities, regardless of their ethnicity / gender / etc..

In other words: Even when given the choice, women at large still choose not to go into Tech related jobs.

[ClassicPeon]

That doesn't happen now. An eye towards diversity means you are giving the non white/asian guys preferential treatment. You do not solve racism or sexism with more racism and sexism.

I called the person out on the 2nd paragraph being a complete asspull basically - the person ignored it.

"but in the 70s!!".

More injustice is not the solution to injustice. I'm not sure how people in general do not understand that

[Ajko]

You really need to pull yourself out of this prehistoric mode of thinking.

Let me be clear. Gender roles are not "natural" at all. They are a societal construct created by people for a number of reasons. Sometimes these reasons were that it was vital for the survival of society. In other cases it was people acting in their own self interest. What I can say with utter conviction is that there is absolutely no necessity or excuse to persist with gender roles of the past in modern society, especially given how they continue to oppress and disadvantage women

You like to argue that it is "dangerous" to go against the so called "natural" order and yet you fail to understand that we have been doing this for millennia, and that the status quo which you're seeking to protect was the result of exactly this.



No. The problem is that people like you don't understand that the things we prefer based on gender are determined by society and what we're taught to prefer. In short, we're indoctrinated into it from the day we're born, and once we're part of the system, we tend to act to perpetuate that system, especially if we perceive that we benefit from said system.

Look at a country like Saudi Arabia. Most westerners are appalled at the way they clearly discriminate against women. Yet if you speak to most Saudi women about their situation, they will tell you it is the natural order. Furthermore the majority of women in that society perpetuate the system and pass it on to their daughters. The irony of course is that those same westerners who are quick to point fingers at the Saudis fail to see that we're not exactly perfect ourselves. We suffer from exactly the same inability to recognise the flaws of the system we're stuck in and continue to perpetuate.



Equality hasn't been achieved, but we are certainly closer to it than ever before. Many "privileges" that girls and women enjoy today were not allowed even a few hundred years ago. But yeah, I guess that was all "negative change"

But yeah I get it. If you happen to be in a position of privilege in an unequal society, of course the idea of change will be threatening. And of course it's in your own self interest to resist such change. But that doesn't make it right. It just makes you a selfish douche - even if you can't see it.

I finally understand your point of view. Your problem is that you confuse equal rights and evenness.

example: you go to a kindergarten where children play on the playground. you will notice that mostly all boys are fighting with sticks and mostly all girls are playing in the sandbox or jumping rubber. they are absolutely not interested in historical bullshit and some abstract bias. they do what they want, what they enjoy. if a girl wants to go to the bathroom, she can. just like a boy, because their rights are the same. if the children go to lunch, they all sit at the same table because they have the same rights.

and now imagine that the headmaster of a kindergarten would be such a utopian "50% equality" dude ... he would begin to select the children he would accept into kindergarten on the basis of some abstract equality.
"oh, we have a lot of boys who play with the sticks, so we have to only accept girls who will play with the sticks to balance the numbers" (and vice versa)
so many children who would need to go to kindergarten will not go because the principal has decided for complete nonsense.

if the director accepts (say) 10 girls in a row who will want to play with the sticks, so be it! but accepting them on the basis of this criteria is pure nonsense.

are you starting to see the difference between equal rights and abstract equality?

I work as a lead developer in a company that has an android division. two years ago I had a girl at interview who is currently (already) the head of this android division. not because she has a vagina, not because she's a girl, not because we have few girls in the workplace .. because she's good, and she's good at what she enjoys, what she chose herself. and not because some utopian forced her to do what she should and shouldn't do.

in Saudi Arabia, are women repressed and do not have the same rights? this is a problem and needs to be addressed. in blizzard there are more male developers than women? this is absolutely no problem and there is nothing to solve. and forcibly pushing this idea has absolutely no meaning.

[Xath]

wow,personal incredulity and denial of reality is surely going to fix discrimination /slowclap

oh and btw,my situation isnt even unique,i have known one more dude that had the EXACT situation and conversation happen

I don't believe you at all. It's not that I don't believe people are sexist idiots it's that the way you phrased it would be them telling you that you got the promotion because at least you were a dude. No higher up would say that it would undermine confidence in the newly promoted employee and cause them to doubt their worth which could lead to a significant drop in work quality. Come up with something that has more than .01% chance of happening next time you are going to claim a bs anecdote. The .01% is if the CEO had been free basing bath salts before the meeting.

[DingDongKing]

You should probably try to reread my post.

Egalitarianism != gender quotas

- - - Updated - - -



No but he is from Sweden and i am from Denmark - and the point still stands.

More egalitarianism = higher split in genders

Based on Sweden and Denmark. Not every country is Sweden and Denmark.

[deenman]

I don't believe you at all. It's not that I don't believe people are sexist idiots it's that the way you phrased it would be them telling you that you got the promotion because at least you were a dude. No higher up would say that it would undermine confidence in the newly promoted employee and cause them to doubt their worth which could lead to a significant drop in work quality. Come up with something that has more than .01% chance of happening next time you are going to claim a bs anecdote. The .01% is if the CEO had been free basing bath salts before the meeting.

dude my boss wasnt some multi bilion dollar company ceo with expertise and a mind for these things,he ran a damn comic store,he didnt care about that,all his little brain knew was i was a dude and she was a woman,and women get pregnant

[ClassicPeon]

Based on Sweden and Denmark. Not every country is Sweden and Denmark.

Its still 100% more statistical evidence then the counterpart has. So the only evidence we have points toward it being true - meaning there is no logical reason to say the opposite is the truth as many do

[DingDongKing]

Its still 100% more statistical evidence then the counterpart has. So the only evidence we have points toward it being true - meaning there is no logical reason to say the opposite is the truth as many do

Last I checked, Sweden and Denmark aren’t representative of the entire human race.

[mbit]

Wth is non binary people?

I wish language was like the old days, clear, precise and few bs.

emo kids of your generation in essence. Same attention whoring just with new makeup.

[Raelbo]

It used to be that having the right qualifications for a job was the important thing all other considerations aside.

Not true. 77% of Blizzard's employees are male. This points to a clear bias that favoured being a male when applying for a job there. This is likely due to a combination of factors both external and internal to Blizzard.

Now it seems that you may have the perfect CV but not get the job because you are white male.

Again, not true. 65% of Blizzard Employees will still be men 5 years from now. The fact is that simply being a white male in the USA today means that you already have a bunch of unfair advantages that you didn't earn and simply inherited by virtue of who you are.

And what the fuck does "under-represented" mean? Are Amazon rainforest tribes and indigenous people represented in/by Blizzard? Will they recruit some employees from these tribes? I mean if we want to really be inclusive then here you go.

It means that relative to their representation within the public at large, they are less represented within the environment in question.

For example, over 50% of the population of the USA identifies as either female or NB, yet only 23% of Blizzard Employees are such. This means that they are under-represented at Blizzard.

[deenman]

Wth are non binary people?

I wish language was like the old days, clear, precise and few bs.

lack of education doesnt excuse ignorance

[mojrer]

2. We will increase the percentage of women and non-binary people in our workforce by 50% and will invest $250 million to accelerate opportunities for diverse talent

Hiring by sexual preferences, or political preferences instead of qualifications and skill is the first step for mediocre quality product.
U can see it everywhere now and also some effects.
I dont mind people having different opinions and preferences or diversity but im old and experienced enough to know that u have to be realist. Noble causes might work and be justified in the idealists eyes, but we have to learn from our history. Communism also sounds pretty, everyone equal, everyone work the same for whole people and get the same profit from their efford. Never worked in the real life scenario and never will.
Worst thing that naive young people in the west countries who were never affected by the socialists ideology are beliving in it. U cant even express your opinion on the blizzard forums about recent events without posts being flagged and stuff. Its sick.

I want to pay for a quality product.
I dont want to pay for a bad product and it doesent matter if its made by nuns , virgins , people certain sex, certain preferences or aliens.
And i dont belive that demands will be met when company is hiring priotizing anything than skills and qualifications of their emploees.

[DingDongKing]

not true. 77% of blizzard's employees are male. This points to a clear bias that favoured being a male when applying for a job there. This is likely due to a combination of factors both external and internal to blizzard.



Again, not true. 65% of blizzard employees will still be men 5 years from now. The fact is that simply being a white male in the usa today means that you already have a bunch of unfair advantages that you didn't earn and simply inherited by virtue of who you are.



It means that relative to their representation within the public at large, they are less represented within the environment in question.

For example, over 50% of the population of the usa identifies as either female or nb, yet only 23% of blizzard employees are such. This means that they are under-represented at blizzard.

But sweden and denmark?!?!