I work at a SF tech company in an open office, and many eng coworkers are Chinese H1Bs. Like half the team. Often they speak Chinese with each other, and I have no idea what they're saying.
Personally I find it rude because it subverts the point of being a team in an open office. I think they should speak English at work, just as if I worked in China at a Chinese company I would be expected to speak Chinese. (Unless you're a salesperson on the phone with a foreign company or something)
It is also not "inclusive" for all the diversity and inclusion we hear about, but I would never say this to my manager because I'd probably be called a racist and fired. Plus he's also on a H1B (from India so he speaks English all the time at least).
The Duke email did say that when they are in a professional setting, they should speak English. Med school is somewhat a professional setting, so I see where she's coming from. I don't think she should be fired for that. If they're just in their dorm rooms then I think it's overreaching to ask them to speak English but if they're at a hospital working, it seems useful to ask them to speak English while working.
It is one thing to find such behavior rude. It is another to search through the photo directory for students that spoke Chinese in order to not hire them for internships/ research positions.
Also, they were speaking Chinese in a student lounge, it wasn't a "hospital".
>If they're just in their dorm rooms then I think it's overreaching to ask them to speak English but if they're at a hospital working, it seems useful to ask them to speak English while working.
FTA:
'According to screenshots of the emails, Neely wrote that two faculty members had stopped by her office and asked to see photos of the first- and second-year biostatistics masters students so that they could identify a group of students who were “very loudly” speaking Chinese in a lounge or study area.
“They were disappointed that these students were not taking the opportunity to improve their English and were being so impolite as to have a conversation that not everyone on the floor could understand,” she wrote, according to the screenshots that were posted online.'
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The non-Chinese speaking colleagues were upset because they couldn't overhear a conversation which was happening in a public space -- not on the job, not in the classroom. Meaning, they believed they were entitled to hear and understand someone else's conversation by virtue of being in the vicinity of them. They also believed they were entitled to surreptitiously photograph them to get them in trouble.
That they decided to tell their leadership about this speaks very poorly of the individuals. They knew their complaint was both racist and self-centered, which is why they didn't have the guts to go up to the Chinese speaking students and simply ask them to speak English. Or even go up to them and make friends -- did they even consider how hard it is to be studying medicine in a second language? Have they ever been in a situation where they had to make friends with someone very different from them?
These students have a very dim future after they finish their education if they expect everyone to speak English simply because they are around. The world isn't like that anymore.
Its only natural to speak a native language between interlocutors who share it because its the most effortless way to talk between them. I don't think it is rude, especially if you're not part of the conversation and you're in your own cubicle within earshot even if its an open office. However, if you are right bang in front of them and not a stranger to them, it would be respectful to speak in English, so you don't feel excluded.
Being able to speak another language apart from the common language (e.g. English) to anyone in the office provided it does not exclude those who should be excluded because of work or social activity/event is in the spirit of diversity and inclusion. The opposite is not.
They were in the student lounge/study area and not in the classroom. If you were in your leisure time among a group of English speaking people in a Chinese company, it is likely you would speak English. At the end of things, who cares, do you want to monitor all your colleagues' behaviour while they are in the lounge or in their leisure time to make sure they fall in line with mainstream company views? I'm glad companies don't force themselves on employees during leisure time.
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[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 28.8 ms ] threadPersonally I find it rude because it subverts the point of being a team in an open office. I think they should speak English at work, just as if I worked in China at a Chinese company I would be expected to speak Chinese. (Unless you're a salesperson on the phone with a foreign company or something)
It is also not "inclusive" for all the diversity and inclusion we hear about, but I would never say this to my manager because I'd probably be called a racist and fired. Plus he's also on a H1B (from India so he speaks English all the time at least).
The Duke email did say that when they are in a professional setting, they should speak English. Med school is somewhat a professional setting, so I see where she's coming from. I don't think she should be fired for that. If they're just in their dorm rooms then I think it's overreaching to ask them to speak English but if they're at a hospital working, it seems useful to ask them to speak English while working.
Also, they were speaking Chinese in a student lounge, it wasn't a "hospital".
FTA:
'According to screenshots of the emails, Neely wrote that two faculty members had stopped by her office and asked to see photos of the first- and second-year biostatistics masters students so that they could identify a group of students who were “very loudly” speaking Chinese in a lounge or study area.
“They were disappointed that these students were not taking the opportunity to improve their English and were being so impolite as to have a conversation that not everyone on the floor could understand,” she wrote, according to the screenshots that were posted online.'
*
The non-Chinese speaking colleagues were upset because they couldn't overhear a conversation which was happening in a public space -- not on the job, not in the classroom. Meaning, they believed they were entitled to hear and understand someone else's conversation by virtue of being in the vicinity of them. They also believed they were entitled to surreptitiously photograph them to get them in trouble.
That they decided to tell their leadership about this speaks very poorly of the individuals. They knew their complaint was both racist and self-centered, which is why they didn't have the guts to go up to the Chinese speaking students and simply ask them to speak English. Or even go up to them and make friends -- did they even consider how hard it is to be studying medicine in a second language? Have they ever been in a situation where they had to make friends with someone very different from them?
These students have a very dim future after they finish their education if they expect everyone to speak English simply because they are around. The world isn't like that anymore.
Being able to speak another language apart from the common language (e.g. English) to anyone in the office provided it does not exclude those who should be excluded because of work or social activity/event is in the spirit of diversity and inclusion. The opposite is not.