I have just finished O’Neill’s piece on the tech’s high barrier of entry for the underprivileged and it was a amazing article on how are hard it is to learn programming coming from a disadvantaged background. I truly resonate with this piece because if it was not for the Flatiron School’s fellowship program I would have never been able to learn coding on the level that I am learning now. However now even with being in such a program as this I feel as though there are still challenges ahead for a group such as mine, in the Flatiron Fellowship.
I think there will be a lot of barriers for us coming into the work world not having a degree or any computer science classes underneath our belt. I understand that people say that the just want people who know how to code but when I see most tech jobs require a 4 year computer science degree as well as 3 to 4 years for an entry level position I worry about how ready we’d be after 6 months.
Code switching according to me is the idea of catering to your context. It’s knowing how to act in multiple situations. I think code switching is needed not just in the work world but in life in general. You wouldn’t make jokes and dance around in a funeral so you should act all Bronx like in a job interview in on the job.
I feel being an effective communicator is the ability to get your message across with the least amount of miscommunication as possible.
I think to be respected, listened to, and heard in the tech world as minorities we have to be the best better than the average coder to get the respect of a normal white coder.
In the Tech field I feel as though the opinion on wanting minorities to succeed is mixed….
Some are welcome to the idea of change and having a more diverse group of people and there are others who are afraid of change and like the field just as it is right now.
We as a fellowship can challenge people’s preconception of us, just by being the best that we can be.