In light of an internal memo called "Google's Ideological Echo Chamber," which was written by a male Google (GOOGL  ) engineer claiming that women are biologically unfit to succeed in technological roles and contained phrases like "neurotic" and "lower numbers of women in high stress jobs," it is time to openly declare what has been lurking underneath the sheath of superficial diversity and inclusion programs for years: the tech world has a gender inequality problem.

The 3,300 word memorandum heavily censures "politically correct monoculture," while berating Google itself for concealing conservative opinions. Its writer, James Damore, has been fired for "perpetuating gender stereotypes" even though he claims that "I have a legal right to express my concerns about the terms and conditions of my working environment and to bring up potentially illegal behavior."

Damore's accusation of illegal behavior stems from Google's policy of openness, as employees are technically allowed to criticize executives or company-wide strategies. Thus, on one hand, Google must deal with accusations of being ideologically bent, while on the other, it must battle allegations that it is just one of many tech companies that has non-inclusive hiring practices that leave women at a disadvantage.

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Sarah Allen, a senior technical leader at Google said the memo "distracts everybody from the real issues. It's really frustrating to have to respond to an ill-thought out series of arguments."

Clearly, there is something to be said about the 'real' issues at hand. Whether it's Uber's sexual harassment allegations and apparently biased policies or Ellen Pao's gender discrimination lawsuit against Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the tech industry is not without its fair share of gender-related scandals.

And if precedent isn't enough to convince people that a systemic, deep-rooted form of discrimination does exist for women in tech, then fittingly enough, it is the numbers that'll do the trick: Women hold only 23% of technical jobs as of mid-2016, a statistic that threatens to dwindle if females continue to be repelled by instances of inequality. Women also abandon their posts at high-tech jobs at a rate that is twice that of men, highlighting the immense pressure they feel in tech workplaces.

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What is it, then, that continues to stimulate this level of gender disparity in the tech industry in a world where women are advancing rapidly in other fields?

Some claim that the historically entrenched "bro-culture" of large corporations and startups alike is so hard to unhinge that women tend to retreat into their own spaces, becoming isolated at work to the point where they are excluded from the "buddy networks" of their male peers.

Another explanation is the lack of female role models in the tech space: women who serve as tangible figures to aspire to in some capacity. Sure, there are figureheads like Sheryl Sandberg and Susan Wojcicki. But, in a sense, they are all far-off, unattainable idols who garner respect from other women based on a sense of infatuation rather than being relatable. "A 2016 study shows how scarce women are on high-tech companies' boards of directors": women thus need to see other females with leadership roles in the workplace, not on the television screen or on the cover of a remote magazine.

One thing is clear: it is only company policies, pipeline education systems and male mindsets that can help change the way women are perceived in tech. The $300 million that Intel (INTC  ) has invested in anti-harassment programs is a good place to start, so that soon all tech companies' employee statistics reflect the same proportions as the American workforce itself.