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1) why is it a moral imperative to have 50/50 gender balance in a company?

2) why is it wrong to have a non-diverse company?

Google (or any other company I can think of) is not trying to have 50/50 gender balance. They are trying to have the same percentage split as the pool of applicants, which I think is fine. Looks like lot of people do not understand how gender diversity programs work or their purpose and hence all this misunderstanding.

Here's the minority's perspective: 1) Why is it required that there can be no more than 20% women in a tech company? 2) Why is it required to have a minimally diverse company?

If you look at these two questions and just say "hah! that's not the same thing at all!", then that's why.

Women aren't a minority.

Well, they're not the same thing, because nobody is claiming 20% women and minimal diversity is a moral imperative. There aren't executive-level staff in major corporations who are paid handsomely to ensure a 20% female staff. If you're arguing there is some kind of secret covenant amongst the shadowy bro-network for a fixed 20% women quota and minimal diversity, you'd need to provide some proof of that. Aside from that you haven't really addressed the questions I asked.

I've noticed a real inability (or perhaps disinclination) to speak about these issues in a straightforward way.

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