Can we fix the tech industry’s pipeline problem?
Computer science has a diversity problem. Most people seem to agree on this; it’s certainly been written about enough. So we try to put a patch on the broken pipeline. Girls don’t feel welcome in computer science classes, so we’ll make them a space of their own. Girls can Kode with Klossy — she’s a supermodel AND she writes code! — or form a Girls Who Code club after school — all the materials and featured women are hidden inside the website so we all know they’re for GIRLS ONLY. Students who find traditional computer science classes inaccessible can learn to code online or through a bootcamp.
And then we throw these students back into the pipeline that’s built on churning out the same stereotypes — the same gatekeepers. When we think of programmers, who do we see? The brogrammers who take work breaks for shots, before reaching the Ballmer Peak and working through the night. The rockstars and ninjas who are sure they’re going to be the next Zuck — and they’ve got the egos to prove it. The recluse who churns out code that’s beautifully crafted and efficient to the point of being unreadable and refuses to go to meetings because he thinks talking is a waste of time.
If programming is a meritocracy, these stereotypes are currently the ones getting full marks. And that’s not going to change with the current pipeline patches; it’s a self-renewing cycle. If you firmly believe that the world of programmers is a meritocracy, and you’ve made it in, then when looking for someone to join you, you would obviously look for someone just like you. If someone benefitted from one of these pipeline patches — a club for girls or a coding bootcamp or a curriculum aimed at underrepresented groups — then they obviously needed help along the way. You didn’t need help, so you’re going to have to dock them points. Are these programs fixing the pipeline problem, or are we creating a group of coders who will only ever be considered second-class?
As Latanya Sweeney says, we now live in a technocracy. And in its current implementation, our programmers are failing us. There are multiple data breaches every day. Facebook is being used to spread lies and misinformation. Facial recognition software can’t see Black people. I think we need better programmers.
So here’s my hot take: no more patches. The pipeline is broken, and it can’t be fixed. It produces a singular type of programmer, and that’s not the programmer we need. So let’s tear it down — disrupt it, if you will — and build something new. Let’s redesign the system from the ground up — from K-12 education through college into industry — by changing the rubric for the programmer meritocracy. Here are some core tenants for the new pipeline:
- Programming is not that hard. Literally anyone can learn to do it.
- Collaboration is a must-have not a nice-to-have, and all programmers should be great communicators.
- The best coders are empathetic. To build great products, you have to be able to put yourself in the mindset of people who are different from you.
- Look for persistence over perfection. Programmers should constantly be looking for feedback and using that to iterate on their work.
- Diversity has value.
Let’s build better programmers.
