The memo written by a Google employee that went viral earlier this month hit a raw nerve. The tech industry is already beset by accusations of widespread sexism and discrimination, and suddenly here was someone arguing that genetic differences rather than bias alone might explain why there are more men than women in tech jobs.

That assertion led Google CEO Sundar Pichai to fire its author, James Damore. The reason, as Mr. Pichai put it in a companywide memo: “To suggest a group of our colleagues have traits that make them...