[droopyEyelids]

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.

[joycey]

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.

[droopyEyelids]

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.