Submitted by Stephen
In ye olden days, when DOS reigned supreme, any number of polygons were considered the height of computer graphics, and people connected to the internet over their landlines, the tech industry was the providence of a handful of privileged people. Most of them were generally lighter on the melanin count, male, and had enough spare money (or their parents had enough spare money) for them to enroll in colleges and universities offering courses in Computer Science. That is, unless they managed to secure a scholarship, which is it’s own kind of privilege.
Similarly, the personality types associated with Information Technology were pretty uniform for most: An nigh-obsession with understanding computers and their workings, along with a keen disinterest in understanding other people and cultures.
As much as people rightfully decry stereotypes nowadays, they persist because they contain a small grain of truth, even if they’re grossly exaggerated. For the IT world in particular, the particular image you would have in mind when you think of the terms “computer nerd” or “computer geek” (a light-skinned young male, Caucasian or Asian, who usually wears glasses, is unfit, and socially awkward) persists because for a long time the study and business of technology was primarily a boys’ club, and located primarily in a few highly-wealthy nations. Likewise, those who were most exceptional at technology tended to be so at the exclusion of most other aspects of life.
To say that tech was an isolated and elitist domain would be an understatement. For all of their claims of being revolutionary and anti-establishment, the earliest tech entrepreneurs and innovators were as much beneficiaries of the male-dominated, Western-centric status quo as professionals in other industries.
It may have seemed rebellious for Steve Jobs to have dropped out of his college and travelled around India before founding Apple, but many people at the time didn’t have the resources to enrol in his alma mater (a private liberal arts institution) or travel through another country on a whim.
However, the times are changing. With the use of the Internet and networking technologies moving from the niche to the norm (so much so that some countries have considered regulating it like water and electricity), and with so many professional and skilled workers put out of a job by the encroaching approach of automation, more and more people have become interested in the prospect of getting involved with the successful tech industry through various means (e.g. by learning programming).
Generally, these people eager to learn do not conform to the stereotypical “tech genius” stereotype. Many of them are women, even mothers. Several are middle-aged, wanting to switch fields after automation kicked them out of their last job. Many of them live in lower-income families, and wouldn’t be able to pay for a normal university’s tuition fees.
In response, a whole host of tutorial sites and video series popped up, teaching laymen and women how to program a game or design a website, for pennies or even for free! Usually, these tutorials are created by people who have professional training or a formal education in Computer Science, wishing to pass on their knowledge onto people who might never have anything to do with IT otherwise. While some might monetize their work by asking for subscription fees or other such payment models, many of them keep their content free out of pure altruism
A good example would be Programming With Mosh, a series of videos started by Iranian software engineer Moshfegh “Mosh” Hamedani. These videos teach a wide variety of programming and coding languages, from HTML to Java, JavaScript to Python. Some of the longer and more detailed videos need a paid subscription to access, but you can learn the important foundations of each language from YouTube videos that are completely free!
However much dedication these single people devote to their tutorials, though, a single person can’t ever match the resources and manpower of an entire corporation.
Thus, the true game changer was when tech companies started noticing these greater strides towards accessibility, and started putting out their own help guides for free. A good example of this is the non-profit Khan Academy, as well as the people behind this helm repository project. both of whom put out video lessons for free that would have required a university enrollment decades ago. These companies have realized that keeping the door open for outsiders will ensure a steady stream of talent for the future.
All-in-all, having accessible learning material is a good thing for the tech industry. Many people think that the current focus on diversity and inclusion is merely to placate certain interest groups. However, the benefits of getting more people into tech is that it encourages fresh, new ideas to sprout in an industry that could otherwise fall into repetition and stagnancy.
After all, much of Steve Jobs’ inspiration for Apple’s now iconic minimalistic aesthetic was Zen Buddhism, which he studied during his travels overseas. What other innovations can people from different walks of life bring to the tech industry in the future? The possibilities are endless!