'Dear Mr. Google Manifesto': Epic Response From Chemical Engineer, Corp VP, Mom Of 5

Melissa Aquino, a mother of five who’s been married for 26 years and also happens to be a chemical engineer who serves as a corporate vice president for a Fortune 200 company, saw the headlines this week sparked by a now-former Google engineer’s 10-page internal memo critiquing the Silicon Valley-based company’s diversity initiatives. As a female who battled discrimination in her education and early career, she knew the memo might upset her. She waited for a quiet moment alone to read and digest the entire document. What happened next was what you’ll read below.

“I decided to pen this,” Aquino said about a Facebook post she wrote Tuesday and gave Patch permission to share, “because women in science and engineering fields need to start telling their stories, showing the real challenges they face in pursuing male-dominated fields.”

While the memo written by male software engineer James Damore was directed at the tech industry — he said biological differences between men and women are significant and may explain some of the gender gaps at Google — Aquino said there are many parallels to her experiences and those of women in all fields of engineering and beyond.

Watch: Google Memo Gets Author Fired And Sparks Tech Diversity Talks

• RELATED: Google Fires Author Of Memo On Women In Tech

Here’s the response she was inspired to write:

Dear Mr. Google Manifesto,

I don't know your name nor do I care to. But I do want you to know something about me. I was born in 1971, when women contributed 4% to household income. In 2018, in dual earning homes - it will be 51%.

At 10 - I was told I was average at math by my male 4th grade teacher. I was not allowed to try and solve the cool new Rubik's cubes. Those were reserved for the advanced kids - mostly boys.

At 12 - I took a standardized state test and my math skills came in as "advanced." I was put in honors math to start junior high.

At 14 - I signed up for my first chemistry and physics course. I was told "boys usually take this class, but OK."

At 16 - I took my first business class as an elective and my teacher handed out grade slips showing I had a B. When I challenged him he told me "your face just looked like you deserved a B." I fought that and won.

At 18 - I graduated Valedictorian and earned a scholarship to an all engineering school where the ratio of men to women was 5:1. I started school and walked in the cafeteria where it was custom for the men to pound on the table whenever a woman walked through on her first day.

At 19 - I had a stalker who put perverse notes on my dorm door or slipped them underneath. My dad was concerned for my safety and thought I might need to come home for a while. But I stayed.

At 20 - I took my finals on a Thursday, I got married on a Saturday and started my internship with Conoco in the Texas oil fields on Monday morning. I worked amidst the tarantulas, rattle snakes and hot sun to sketch pipes and tanks. At the end of my summer - the executive doing my exit interview saw my wedding ring and commented - "That's too bad. WE tend to look at our married ladies with less dedication."

At 22 - I graduated #1 in my class of chemical engineers and I walked across the stage to accept my diploma while pregnant with my first child.

At 22 - I started my first job with Procter & Gamble pregnant. I was told I would be part of a plant start up - in 6 months. The lead technician asked my boss in front of me "Can she even do this job." My first boss - Jeff - still matters to me. He said "Yes she can and you can't ask her that." I did that plant start up - 7 months pregnant, in my steel-toed boots, going up and down two flights of stairs to take samples all night during third shift at a St. Louis plant.

At 24 - I was pregnant with my second son. At 7 months pregnant, I completed a pilot plant trial in the back woods of North Carolina using one of the most highly explosive chemicals on the planet. At one point we had to run up over the hills because we thought the plant might blow up. I have a patent on that work.

At 26 - I was given one of most complex assignment in my department - going to the plant running 100,000 pounds an hour, do 3 formula switches, sack off 2,000 pounds of each and get it all done in one shift and on a truck. I was the only woman on my team. I found out later there was chatter among some of the men that my boss should never give that to a woman.

I won't bore you with the next 20 years. They are colorful. But I do want to share why today is very meaningful to me - August 8th. On this day in 2008 - I gave birth to my second daughter. On this day in 2012 - I gave birth to my third daughter. On this day in 2017 - I spent my time in São Paulo, Brazil, where I work for a company that provides me a platform to walk across the stage and say, "I'm a Corporate Vice President. I'm a Chemical Engineer. I'm a Mother of Five."

So I want you to answer just two questions for me regarding your manifesto:

(1). You are a fellow scientist so I hope you can appreciate my request that you provide the sources for these precise, single variable social science studies that have isolated gender as the main reason girls tend not to choose math and science? If they do exist, they surely must have also invented a time machine. So I want them to go back and tell 10-year-old me I was actually good at math.

(2). Which part of "high stress" do you attribute to tech jobs that women aren't suited for? The actual work itself or possibly, could there be another source of stress in a non-diverse environment?If you could kindly extract yourself from your Google nap pod or step away from the ping pong table - mosey on over to get yourself a shot of wheat grass and go outside to the picnic tables and pen me an answer. Oh wait, you can't because they fired you. Well anyhow, I don't care about the answers to those questions. Let's have a real intellectual debate - which discipline requires more toughness - chemical engineering or coding? (Hint: I still own my steel-toed boots, a collection of hard hats and my flame retardant jumper.)

Best of Luck,

Melissa Aquino, 46

Chemical Engineer

Mother of Five

Photo by Mike Aquino/courtesy of Melissa Aquino