I think it's great that Google supports internal employee diversity networks. However, it would be more interesting to understand what that means for African-American employment opportunities at Google. Are African-Americans adequately represented among senior management, etc? Perhaps, even more importantly, I would like to understand what steps Google is taking to improve the quality of search results delivered to search inquiries about African-American culture, resources,communities, etc. I'm sure that Google understands a diverse workforce ought to improve its ability to address the consumer expectaions of its goods and services.

See the linked article entited "In Search of the Holy Long Tail: African_americans and Web 2.0" at http://www.myblacknetworks.com/ViewNews.asp?Rel...

Thank you for commenting and your link. I think what I found most compelling about the video is that it didn't endorse Google as the ideal work environment. This wasn't a promotional or recruitment video at all. It focused on the network. The impression I received is that there aren't many black employees thus the need to create the resource. It is my understanding that Google has very strict policies about employees talking about the company publicly, so I would not be surprised if this video had to be "approved" before posted on the Web. Curiously, Brian doesn't discuss the type of resources or support the group provides. Hmmm...

E. McQuiller: Are African-Americans adequately represented among senior management, etc? The answer is no. The only African American on Google Exec Board is David C. Drummond who is the Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer. They also have one African-American Director of Engineering. To Google’s credit, however, they do have one of the more diverse (women & other minorities) Exec Boards that I’ve ever seen.

What steps Google is taking to improve quality of search results about African-American? The honest answer is nothing, unless you include Google Squared which is for the entire search community, not just African-Americans. Perhaps, Rushmoredrive (when it was available) was the closest we've gotten in the black community to what you're talking about.

rmcaldwell: I agree that the video wasn't necessarily a recruitment video for working at Google (they have the 'Working at Google' videos for that), but more so highlighting the diversity (regardless of percentages by diversity group) of the company as a whole. The truth is there aren't many Africans or African-Americans that work at Google, but they do exist at the company as evident by the video. But the question is why not more? Well that's one of the things at Black Digerati we seek to find out through research and interviews. This is what we found out:

Black Digerati founder Mike Lang developed a relationship with Spelman's Computer Science professor and Robotics guru Dr. Andrew Williams back in April of this year when they met at the Tapia Conference in Portland, OR. Last year Dr. Williams presented (we'll post the video on Black Digerati Tube later) at a National Science Foundation event for Dr. Martin Luther King. During the presentation he tells an interesting story about an experience he had at the Googleplex.

The Google Story: He was invited to the Google Faculty summit and during the Q&A he asked Google Founder Sergey Brin the follow question: How can a company such as Google say that diversity is important and needed if it's already successful without a lot of diversity? Sergey acknowledged that Google wasn't where they should be in terms of hiring women and African-Americans specifically in engineering and they realized this from the beginning when the first 20 employees were all white males. He goes on to say that if you ask African-American computer science & engineering students that have interviewed at Google, they will tell how challenging the interview questions can be even for a college professor. This allows Google to disqualify unqualified candidates legally. He also points out that he was told by an African-American professor at one of the HBCU's that the reason his students weren't hired full-time after interning at Google is because they weren't Googlee enough. Translation, they weren't as prepared as the other Google engineers who perhaps went to traditional white, highly ranked universities (i.e. MIT, Carnegie Mellon, UC Berkeley, etc). Granted some of our HBCU Engineering Schools (we have roughly 11) are just as good as the traditional white Engineering Schools, but our Engineering Schools lack the resources.

For African-Americans that aspire to work for Google, I encourage you to go for it because it’s possible. The key is preparation, preparation, preparation, preparation…

One word, Mikey: WOW!

Thanks Mikey,
"Googlee" suggests a reference to company culture as opposed to talent. I would assume Google has a competent interview process, even for summer interns, that helps them gauge a candidate's skill set and potential. I would encourage any research on the subject to include a deeper dive on what is really meant by "Googlee."

By the way, there are Black engineering students at the traditionally white, highly ranked universities. I attended two Ivy League institutions (not in an engineering program), and am certain that highly qualified candidates will always be attracted to work places that are hospitable.

MyBlack:

"Googlee" does suggest a reference to company culture; however talent is still part of that equation as well as personality. We came to this conclusion from reading interviews and conducting research on their company culture as well as conversations I’ve had with engineers that work at Google at different conferences I've attended. Being able to work on a team and collaborate with a very diverse group of personalities is also important. With all that being said, you still have to be a top notch talent with a LOT of passion about technology and the web in order to have a chance to get through the interviewing process at Google. This is VERY important because the competition is so fierce, especially with Google pushing for the cap on H1B Visas (by April of 2009 they'd already applied for 300 H1B's) to be lifted. If they get their wish, that would mean the hiring of more engineers from Asia and India and less here in the United States.

There are Black engineering students at the traditionally white, highly ranked universities and more than likely the majority of BGN members graduated from those universities. What Dr. Williams was referring to were students from HBCU Engineering Schools that have interviewed or interned at Google.

Really, a diverse workforce at Google? My black husband has had a horrendous time too during the interview process and he holds a Master's degree in Computer Science. One of the Google HR questions was "What is 2^16?" for an entry-level Technical Support position (basically, Help Desk). I believe that many used that to weed out candidates that they did not want in order to justify passing over qualified individuals. It is sad to continually hear that we have no black IT workers when I see my husband fruitlessly scour the Internet looking for work..