, Columnist
Is Facebook Tough on Women? Let's Check the Data
Simpson's paradox makes that question difficult to answer.
Watch that paradox.
Photographer: Chris Jackson/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Does Facebook discriminate against female engineers? It’s a question that may take more than one statistical analysis to answer.
The issue has gained prominence thanks to the research of a former Facebook Inc. engineer, who -- according to the Wall Street Journal -- found that female engineers get more criticism of their code than their male peers, by a margin of 35 percent. Facebook responded that the analysis was incomplete: If it had taken into account the rank of the engineers, the discrepancy would have disappeared.