Her Blog Post About Uber Upended Big Tech. Now She’s Written a Memoir.

"Rather than quietly tolerate it, though, Fowler, who was 25 at the time, decided to make a fuss." The term "make a fuss' is limp and outdated. Sounds like a phrase from the 1950s workplace. How about, "excercised her legal right to a workplace without sexually predatory behavior and harrassment."

I spent 13+ years as a science student eventually earning doctorate and working in the field. It just kept getting worse, the harassment. The sexism, etc etc. I was one of few that made it through the narrowing pipeline, but once spat out the other end wish I hadn't spent so much of my life doing it. I could NEVER recommend science as a field to pursue, and that means everyone.

I was viciously stalked in high school by a male student on the math team. I told teachers, female and male, a guidance counselor, and a principal. He was the highest scorer and a yea from graduating while I was only a sophomore, so they did nothing, telling me “he just likes you.” He followed me everywhere, sneaking touches/gropes, pounding on my hotel room door when the math team traveled while I shook and cried. I quit the math team. I later wasn’t chosen for a statewide math award because they questioned my level of interest in mathematics due to that choice. When I applied to college, I had the grades, scores, and resume to likely get into MIT, Caltech, and other elite schools to study engineering and astrophysics. My guidance counselor advised me against going to those schools because “You think you had a hard time here with [Steve, name altered to avoid dealing with him if he sees this], what do you think those schools will be like? They’re full of nothing but Steves.” I instead attended a non-engineering school on a full scholarship. I still completed an advanced degree in the sciences but in a field that my heart wasn’t in. I got sexually harassed at multiple labs and other academic environments. I ended up changing course and going to law school. Now I prosecute sex crimes and cyber crimes, and my technological prowess is put to partial good use. I have found a calling in what I do, but every once in while I look up at the stars and wonder what I might have been.

While part of me celebrates this #metoo moment -a very big part, in fact- I'm wondering if certain things aren't being swept under the rug: sexual discrimination besides that of men against women. There are several forms that in my experience are just as virulent, & really just as varied as the whole range of gender and gender/sexual-orientation dynamics. But first, addressing this more "classic" category figuring in Ms. Fowler's story, I wish to ask whether Nicolas Kristoff (who presumably reads this review), recalls reporting recently how the University of Chicago semi-confirmed an advanced graduate student in psychology had her career derailed by sexual harassment, by a leading scholar, of - of all things - "moral development"(!!!). According to Kristoff, the U. of Chicago decades latter kind-of-sort-of owned up to what happened, & awarded her a PhD based on the scholarly writing she did after her PhD was derailed. My complaint: Something so momentous deserved follow-up reporting, because if true, would have (given the perpetrator's particular role in his field) enormous significance., including to Ms. Fowler's story. But the U. Chicago story was never explored/developed further. But troublesome in this Fowler story is the implication that heterosexual men have some kind of monopoly on sexual aggression. Frankly, in my experience, gay men & gay women often show equal viciousness to the groups *they* target, but are given a pass because of the discrimination they suffer.

Go tell it on the mountain! Sorry she had to experience this, but glad she snd others are exposing it. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

When I attended business school back in the 70's, the writings of management guru Peter Drucker were all the rage. Probably his most famous management concept was one he coined The Peter Principle (aka 'The Peter Point'): that people working in typical hierarchal organizations are promoted to their level of professional incompetence where they stagnant (doing a poor job of it) for the remainder of their career. It appears that the first Uber manager acting inappropriately toward Ms Fowler was at his own Peter Point - he was probably a good or even great coder prior to being promoted to a manager... once here he was totally out of the necessary zone of personal maturity and professional management competency to perform the job required... hence his way inappropriate conduct with his work subordinates like Ms Fowler. As this Silicon Valley ethic commonly eschews the necessity of college degrees/education, etc - it's probable that very few 'managers' in these shops have any clue to the great useful writings of Peter Drucker nor any of the many other contemporary business management writers of our day. These 'non business school educated managers' are app to keep making these same mistakes of professional incompetencies where they're now (forever) sitting at their career-stalled Peter Points over and over. Too bad.

I'm not sure why it's so "infuriating" that Fowler doesn't have a "satisfactory explanation" as to why she couldn't attend the local high school. I was also homeschooled, which was interrupted after 10th grade. The local high school told me that I could attend classes but I wouldn't earn a diploma (they said I couldn't prove I'd earned sufficient credits and they refused to test my aptitude levels). Two years of work with no diploma? No thanks. I took the autodidact approach as well, and ended up with my MA a few years later. I don't see why this one detail would undermine the strength of her whole narrative, especially in light of everything else she's accomplished.

The MeToo movement has brought a much-needed re-orientation of our cultural assumptions. Is it appropriate for a boss to talk to a subordinate about having an open relationship with his wife? I think not, but I am surprised by a lot of personal disclosures that I hear in the office between colleagues who assume they are talking among trusted friends. The fact is that the lines blur when we are with the same people for as long as many of us are required to be. The other side of this is that that there is an epidemic of loneliness in our culture, with side effects of addiction, depression, anxiety and suicide. There needs to be a balance between redressing the long history of patriarchal entitlement and allowing for us to remain open to each other as human beings. It makes me sad to think that we may not find that balance during my lifetime.

This happens todo many women so often because so many men men are so unconstrained in their aggression

I'm so curious as to the other quotes that could've been pulled to demonstrate/illustrate the harassment, bullying, and discrimination she faced. Unfortunately, you open this review with something that sounds inappropriate, but not harassing, bullying, or discriminatory. My fear is that, assuming the book proves her to be a credible victim, people will read this and think, "Suck it up" or "Tell him you're not interested." We're with our coworkers for at least 40 hours a week -- inevitably we feel comfortable talking about our personal lives, maybe cursing, maybe saying 'inappropriate' things and generally letting our guards down. So, while this crosses the line, no doubt, since he barely knew her and was her superior, it just doesn't seem far out of the ordinary or a good example to illustrate this harmful culture she needed to fight back against. Right? And it's not harassment to hit on someone, is it? Many people meet their spouses at work. Some may be excited to hear their coworker is in an open relationship. So, what did he actually do? I'm sure it was bad! I just want us all to see it.

Thank you to Susan Fowler. I'm 63, and can attest to how slowly social mores change. What will always be needed are people who are willing and able to lead, and to leave their positions when they are physically or emotionally hurt or ignored. When we live in places that are mired in poverty and deeply discriminatory, that is not always possible, thus it becomes even more important for those who have the educational background to speak out.

Bravo to Ms. Fowler for writing this book, her blog and for taking a stand. Generally HR departments seem to be more about covering for companies and supervisors, rather than safeguarding employee rights--at least that's my experience and that of many others I've spoken with. So we really need whistleblowers and the legal right to blow those whistles.

I'm sympathetic to Ms. Fowler. However, I find it frustrating and disappointing that it took her revelations to "upend" Uber. For years Uber abused its "driver-partners" on the road. That abuse included encouraging them to drive without proper insurance (ride share insurance did not exist in the early days of Uber) and encouraging them to break local laws. Many saw their cars impounded and their driving records permanently stained. Few in the general public cared.

I think I’ve come up with a solution to most of our societal woes. Men could take a hundred-year break...and let women lead. God knows, it’s worth a try!

The culture that supports--promotes?--male entitlement and egregious behavior at tech companies is toxic. Women should not only expect better, but insist on it. That being said, I have read over and over how a young woman gives up her career goals because of harassment. And I wonder--does it lead her to think all places will like the one where the harassment took place? Or is it some kind of lack of resiliency? I wish someone would look into this further.