Googles program for Black college students suffered disorganization and culture clashes, former participants say
Summary
Students flew from Howard University, which is based in Washington D.C., to Mountain View, California, where Google built out a floor and hired a designer known for creating spaces for STEM and social justice. Students from multiple programs said they experienced unexpected housing charges and delays of up to two months in stipends provided by their respective schools, which financed the participants travel and stay in Mountain View, they said. "Students were coming to me worried and asking what opportunities exist because they didnt have an internship or werent hired by Google," said Dr. Gloria Washington, a Howard and Tech Exchange professor in 2017 and program advisor and mentor in the subsequent cohorts. "There are often these assumptions by Googlers that they know how to best instruct students without taking into account the demographics or the HBCU teachers," said Dr. Nicki Washington, a computer science professor at Duke University who helped form the Google In Residence program, which became the breeding ground for Howard West. The paper also referenced Googles low percentage of Black employees, the fact that few HBCU students pass technical interviews and that tech companies are contributing to the growing wealth gap in the U.S.