The Black Lives Matter movement aims to bring attention to the massive racial and gender gaps still present in America. To support them in this endeavor, Google conducted a study showing these gaps in the realm of computer science learning. Meanwhile, Facebook seems to care less about equality.
GOOGLE STUDY SUPPORTS BLACK LIVES MATTER; FACEBOOK FALLS SHORT
In conjunction with their partner Gallup, Google set out to investigate the inequalities in K-12 computer science (CS) education in two different reports. They looked at 16,000 national groups of students, parents, teachers, principals and superintendents all across America. Their results show the learning gap between white students and their black peers. Hopefully, this study will bring a new perspective to the Black Lives Matter movement, where other tech companies like Facebook fell short.
GOOGLE SAYS BLACK LIVES MATTER IN CS; FACEBOOK NEEDS TO IMPROVE
While more schools in K-12 are offering CS education, there’s more work to do. Access to CS education is not available to all students, especially for those in minorities. According to Google, black students are less likely to have CS at their school compared to white or Hispanic students.
Furthermore, Black and Hispanic students are less likely than white students to have a computer at home. More specifically, only 58 percent of black and 50 percent of Hispanic students say they use a computer at least most days at home. Which is compared to 68 percent of white students?
This is exactly the kind of inequality that Black Lives Matter stands up for. Facebook needs to improve their direction to get on board.
BLACK LIVES MATTER FACEBOOK INCIDENT REMAINS IN FOCUS; GOOGLE THE GOOD GUY
While the popular search engine comes out on top on all of this, the social media giant still tries to recover from a recent racial incident. For those who don’t remember, Mark Zuckerberg announced that some employees expressed that black lives don’t matter on the company’s interactive whiteboard. Meanwhile, the company hardly has a diverse workplace. White people make up more than half of the organization while Asians make up one-third. They, along with America, still have a lot of work to do.
