In reply to Al.

Affirmative action is reverse discrimination, true.

A single action, in isolation (this award) can't establish that affirmative action policy & practice is in place. We would hardly be surprised, though, to find that it occurs at WordPress and across the industry.

The Supreme Court has a landmark affirmative action case before it, now. AA has been widespread across the land for many decades (and indeed, per Mr. Trump, around the globe). It was never meant to go on forever.

To be legitimate, affirmative action must be "justified". There are criteria, measures, conditions and requirements that apply. Ad hoc or off-hand practices may fly under the radar ... but if so, that's what they're doing.

A vital measure of good affirmative action, is that it is effective. That it accomplishes the desired goal. This may be where WordPress et al are in trouble, with efforts to increase female numbers. Can they show that any favoritism practices actually remedy the gender-imbalance?

The pragmatic dominant reality is probably simply that any & all affirmative action is now on the wrong side of history. We done that, been there, and now we're moving on.

Unless a company can show rigorously that a given practice - fudging the thumb on the scales - really makes a valuable difference, it will be hard to justify or defend. And heretofore, they may be increasingly 'called on it'.