Tech’s High Barrier to Entry for the Underprivileged (opens in new tab)

(medium.com)

31 pointsindraneel2411y ago5 comments

5 comments

5 comments · 3 top-level

droopyEyelids11y ago· 2 in thread

What happens when you compare this barrier to that of another career?

Even after reading the article, I still think programming has the fewest artificial barriers of any other professional job. Of course, there is still a mountain of shit that poor people need to climb- but once Maurice can functionally write code, he can find a job that pays WAY more than other entry level work. College would further his career, but isn't a requirement.

Do you think someone could get a white collar finance job just because they were able to figure out some trading vernacular on McDonalds WiFi? Or what about a career in HR? No way. Those have all the same barriers as a tech job, while requiring more institutional accreditation and social proof.

joycey11y ago

Obviously tech is more of a meritocracy than other industries, but I think this article is meant to be a critique of the often-told narrative that the tech industry is a pure meritocracy where everything is fair and even and perfect. Just because tech is doing better than other industries doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement.

droopyEyelids11y ago

That isn't really saying anything then, is it? Every form of employment requires people have transportation, and a way to clean their clothes, communicate etc. Those are societal obstacles to employment, not tech's barrier to employment.

The barriers applicable to a certain form of employment have to be unique to that form of employment, like the prerequisite of a college degree or institutional certification.

eli_gottlieb11y ago

It seems to me like many of the problems here shouldn't necessarily be addressed by specially-targeted programs run by the tech industry. That will just make things more fragmented for people like Maurice who might want to be, for instance, mechanical engineers instead of programmers.

It seems like the genuine ways to address this would be:

* Some kind of telecom/internet access becomes a social right, provided universally. The easiest actual ways to do this are municipal public libraries, open libraries at community colleges, and municipal wifi.

* Transit and mobility subsidies for the poor, or possibly just for everyone. It simply shouldn't happen at all that someone lives mere miles away, in the same city, from hackathons and other educational/career-building activities and yet can't afford the trip. I also can't count the number of poorer people I've met who simply have fewer chances in life because they were born in a rural area and cannot afford to move until there is a signed-and-sealed job offer with relocation provided.

* Trades training and job counseling as part of the public education system. Because duh.

Making even the most basic infrastructure and opportunities for-profit has resulted in a "You must be this well-off to enter" barrier for things that we like to believe are normal and universal. We should make them actually universal.

lsiebert11y ago

According to the pew research center, Median net worth for American Households was as follows in 2013: Whites: $141,900 Blacks: $11,000 Hispanics: $13,700

So if you care about the lack of diversity in race in the industry, a good place to start is addressing the underprivileged.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse