Using Tech-Based Education and Training as a Means of Closing the Income Inequality Gap for

Low-Income Communities

Bablu Bank, Javier Gonzalez, & Austin Stewart

CST 462S: Race, Gender, Class in the Digital World

Professor Brian Robertson

CS Online Fall 2021

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Introduction

In recent years, we have seen increased interest and advocacy for quality STEM

education in the classroom and in-demand STEM skills in the workforce. Of all the STEM

fields, technology is the one that is the most omnipresent and influential in our daily lives. It has

helped reshape the world we know and has forever changed how we stay connected, acquire

knowledge, and interact with each other. As digital technology continues to influence our lives

and the nation’s economic growth, the need for a qualified tech-based workforce will continue to

grow. To keep up with the tech talent required to foster continued innovation and progress in our

country, it is imperative that tech-based education and training be inclusive and readily available

to all. Unfortunately, many individuals from low-income communities have not been given the

opportunity to pursue this type of invaluable education and training which has essentially

disqualified them from participating in these rewarding and life-changing high-paying careers.

This exclusion from our highly sought-after tech workforce has only exacerbated income

inequality for already struggling low-income communities and makes it harder for those

community members to rise above their current socioeconomic status.

Literature Review

Many cities across America have seen massive economic growth due to recent

tech-booms and those with the right skill set, talent, and training are poised to be the biggest

beneficiaries in this emerging technological age. Despite the influx of high-paying tech-related

job openings available, many positions are not being filled due to a lack of applicants with

sufficient tech-based skills to do the job. This is a common reality of this technologically

progressive society. The most highly paid jobs require advanced tech skills and employers find

very few qualified people to get these jobs done. Therefore, skilled people in the current

competitive market deserve better pay than people without advanced tech knowledge. This
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situation generates a new class of low-income communities in addition to the existing

low-income communities who have already suffered different malpractices from the past. Most

low-income communities have several things in common. Most importantly, they lack tech

knowledge.

According to Nager and Atkinson (2016), occupations in technology have grown by 36

percent and will continue to expand to 1.4 million computing jobs by 2020 using pre-pandemic

statistics. The demand to fill these positions has led to employers offering high salaries to entice

new workers and has spurred faster wage growth in this field when compared to others.

Furthermore, our dependence on technology has only grown due to the pandemic and it will

continue to fuel the need for more tech professionals in today’s workforce. Therefore, many

studies have already argued for introducing proper tech-based education and training among

them to enrich them with tech knowledge. Nager and Atkinson’s article does a great job of

describing the need for more tech-based professionals and mentions the shortcomings faced in

retraining low-income individuals in tech. Rolle et al. (2020) also emphasize education and

inclusivity for the underserved low-income communities as the future of work and that

entrepreneurship will be dependent on technology and innovation. The purpose is simply to

enable them to seek tech jobs with decent pay so that the income inequality gap for them can be

closed or at least minimized to an unavoidable acceptance.

An approach to solving the increasing need for tech-based skills is through the k-12

education system. Studies have shown that computer science (CS) education leads to higher

college enrollment, the lack of proper funding and resources limits one's capabilities/chances of

entering this field. A contributor to this dilemma is that there aren't enough qualified teachers.

Just by looking at the U.S. alone, roughly ten percent of k-12 educators understand

computational thinking, which is necessary for CS (Vegas & Fowler, 2020). There are
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misconceptions too. One common misconception that people believe is that someone has to be

smart to pursue a career in CS, which couldn't be further from the truth. Also, what's worse is

that people believe "CS is a male-oriented field that involves social isolation and a focus on

machinery rather than people" (Vegas & Fowler, 2020).

However, after going over different articles and taking into account current knowledge

and theories, it appears that:

1. Current knowledge is not sufficient enough in explaining how tech-based

education and training of low-income individuals can be used as a pipeline to fill

many of these vacant high-paying tech jobs which can help turn things around in

low-income communities.

2. No steps have been discussed or taken to ensure active participation of the

low-income communities for tech-based education or training.

3. No uniform and result-driven guidelines are implemented for increasing the skills

of the educators, and for removing different misconceptions.

Research Question

Detailed knowledge of this information will help to identify the root causes and enable us

to take appropriate steps on how to use tech-based education and training as a means of closing

the income inequality gap for low-income communities. Therefore, thorough research is

necessary to get the answer to the following question:

How can we improve upon our current tech-based education and training programs to

make them more inclusive and equitable for individuals looking to overcome income

inequality for themselves, family, and community?

Research Design
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Site Supervisor Questions

1. In what ways do you think your professional experience has impacted your role

here at [service learning site]?

2. In what ways do you think tech-based education and training can help mitigate

income inequality in low-income communities and why?

3. Do you think tech-based education would help prepare low-income communities

for the current job market?

4. Do you think that there is enough tech-based education out there that is helping

prepare individuals for jobs in those fields and why?

5. How could your organization ensure the active participation of low-income

communities in tech-based education or training?

6. There are many misconceptions regarding computer or tech-based education (e.g.

it is for only smart people, it is difficult, etc). What would you suggest to

eradicate these misconceptions?

The research paper interviews will be conducted over video conferencing software. Each

interview participant will be given the same list of questions in advance and will be encouraged

to be as descriptive and thorough in their responses as possible. We will inform them that we will

not put restrictions or time constraints on their responses to the questions. The interviewers will

take adequate and appropriate notes to the participant’s responses and will record the interviews

to ensure quality and integrity of the data collected. The interviewees will also be asked for their

consent for the interviews to be captured through video, audio, and/or both types of recordings

for quality assurance.. The data collected will be included in the appendices below. Also, due to
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time constraints and the remote nature of our service learning sites, we’ve decided to interview

our respective service learning site supervisors.

Service Organization

The OpenStreetMap (OSM) Santa Clara County Points of Interest Project is a project

hosted by Code for San Jose. Code for San Jose is a nonprofit community organization and a

member of the national Code for American network. According to their website, their mission is

to “make community services more transparent, accessible, and equitable by collaborating with

local government and community-based organizations on civic projects to improve San Jose and

the wider South Bay for everyone.” The main purpose of this project is to import new datasets

which will revamp OSM's coverage of retail, commercial, and industrial points of interest (POI)

in Santa Clara County and bring a more comprehensive POI coverage to OSM than most

proprietary datasets currently offer. This project is extremely important because its main goal is

to improve the current coverage which underrepresents minority-owned businesses and small

businesses which low-income communities rely on. Ultimately, it will make access to

community resources, geographic data, and local business information within Santa Clara

County more equitable and accessible for all its residents and business owners. One of the

project leads, creators, contributors, and service learning site supervisor, Minh Nguyễn, will be

interviewed for our research paper.

Vita Link is a nonprofit organization who is backed by several educational, industry, and

community partners. Their mission is to help bridge the gap between business and education to

prepare students for the transition into those careers and or fields. They are based in Tustin,

California and have been running strong since 1995. Currently, Vita Link is in the process of

moving from an emailing service known as Constant Contact to a new one called Mail Chimp. In

order to have a smooth transition, they are re-organizing their entire emailing list to be more
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categorized. This will allow for a more targeted demographic when sending out emails about

upcoming events or general news. Why this is so important is that it will make it easier to send

out emails tailored for a specific audience. Rather than everyone receiving the same email

despite not being part of that targeted demographic. The senior director of programs at Vita Link,

who is also the service learning site supervisor, Neda Arab, will be an interviewee for the

research paper.

The Rebecca Everlene Trust Company is a global nonprofit organization that provides

virtual sitter and educational opportunities to families with children through the Intellectual

Practice Learning and Surviving College Financially programs. It offers students the ability to

receive subject-specific coaching, virtually, from “Kid Watchers” who are passionate about kids,

some of which are high schoolers, professional counselors, and teachers. It is located in Chicago,

IL. It also collects and research data from Chicago School District to know the active

participation of the kids from the low-income communities in academic and extracurricular

activities. Tamara C. Daniels, who is the founder of the trust, will be interviewed for our research

paper.

Findings

The three participants interviewed for this research paper hold key leadership roles at

their respective project sites and offer important professional insight when it comes to improving

current tech-based education and training programs for individuals from low-income

communities. Their professional experience and expertise have allowed them to not only make

significant contributions to their programs, but also to the local communities in which they serve.

Their unique perspective has helped steer the direction of these projects and has contributed to

their overall success. The founder of the Rebecca Everlene Trust Company, Ms. Daniels said that

her experience “...serves as guidance…” and has given her “...foresight to stay ahead of the
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competition…” A similar sentiment was shared by the project lead for Code for San Jose’s OSM

project, Mr. Nguyễn, “So, I'm able to bring in a user experience perspective to these data projects

and it's not the only perspective that matters but what I found is that it's kind of specialized.”

Please see Appendices B and C for their full response.

A common theme touched upon throughout the three interviews is that of increased

opportunities for those that have tech-based education and training. The senior director of

programs at Vitalink, Ms. Arab, alluded to the opportunities that a tech-based degree or

certificate can bring and how it can help people “get out of that low-income state.” (Appendix

A). When asked about the ways tech-based education and training help mitigate income

inequality in low-income communities, Mr. Nguyễn discussed how tech-based training (via

coding boot camps) gives individuals from these communities an opportunity to participate in a

career field that they normally would have been excluded from due to their lack of formal

tech-based education. Furthermore, Ms. Daniels discussed the difficulties that are faced by

individuals without advanced technological training and education and how it will become a

hindering factor for them moving forward and limit their opportunities for advancement.

Across all interviewee's responses, a common theme took form in that tech-based

education was a necessity in the current job market. Neda provided that even a small amount of

knowledge can go a long way in securing an occupation. Regardless of that individual's status in

society. Minh went on to say that having a formal education, in which a person acquires a degree

for a specific STEM field, will have an easier time getting a job compared to those who haven't.

Also, Tamara informed that taking tech-based classes throughout their childhood has helped

them in their career of technology. As technology continues to grow, the need for tech-based

education increases and the earlier a kid is exposed to this, the better off they will be in their

future.
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With technology ever expanding, the requirements for education also inflates. The

responses provided by each interviewee follow a similar trend in that there are enough

educational resources out there from which people can learn from. However, each response also

shared an issue with a common theme. No one should be forced to partake in these tech-based

courses. Tamara stated that if an individual feels that this education is irrelevant to them, then

they shouldn't be pressured into it. Minh shared that despite job listings requiring high levels of

expertise, it only reflects that company's policies, and that people shouldn't be as concerned.

Neda informed that if a teacher believes that a tech-based course for their students won't benefit

them, then they shouldn't be forced to do the training. In the end, there are more than enough

educational resources available to people, but it is up to that person to decide if it will help them

or not in pursuing their goals.

For improving tech-based education and helping the low-income communities to

succeed, the contributions of the different organizations and the steps taken to eradicate

misconceptions regarding computer science education are important to know.

Ms. Arab extends free educational programs among underserved communities. Their

targets include both young kids and adults. Ms. Tamara has also expressed a similar opinion, as

her organization extends tutoring services to young kids. They provide low-cost or free tutoring

for the low-common communities. However, Mr. Nguyễn has doubted if their contribution is

enough to help the low-income communities, as his organization “… historically attracted people

who are already in pretty good shape in terms of already being well served by technology.” He

likes to urge organizations to go beyond their comfort zone and develop missions that are more

visible in low-income communities. His organization has started emphasizing inclusion and

planned to do more in the future.

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For eradicating misconceptions, Ms. Arab suggests encouraging and making educators

capable of providing quality education. The educator can make the education interesting and

related to real-world activities. Learning new techniques and incorporating those in the teaching

are essential capabilities for good educators. Ms. Tamara has emphasized the growing interest

and willingness of the students. If someone is not interested at all, the good teachers may not

help. Financial incentives, successful stories of the current and previous students, etc. may help

the students grow interests and work hard towards successful careers. Mr. Nguyễn has cited his

personal stories and argued that one does not need to be a genius or have a top IQ score. The

diligent and continuous study of science is the key to success in the computer science and

technology field.

Some organizations have already started contributing to the low-income communities to

grow with technical skills. Other organizations may not have any significant contributions yet,

though they have already realized the importance of ensuring the active participation of

low-income communities in tech-based education or training. The educators’ training, financial

and motivational support to the students and diligent study may help to eradicate misconceptions

regarding computer or tech-based education (e.g. it is for only smart people, it is difficult, etc).

Conclusion

Throughout this report many areas were covered in the pursuit of answering the paper's

main question. That question being, "How can we improve upon our current tech-based

education and training programs to make them more inclusive and equitable for individuals

looking to overcome income inequality for themselves, family, and community?" As a result of

the research and information presented thus far, the amount of technological education is at an all

time high, and the ease of access is greater than ever. No matter what level of experience an

individual has, even if it's none, there is a resource best suited for them out there. Due to the
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COVID-19 pandemic, more tech-based education has moved online. This resulted in a much

easier way of accessing the necessary material for learning. In the end, tech-based education is

more inclusive now than ever before, and as technology continues to advance, so will the ease of

access for those willing to learn.

The information collected from this report’s interviews have provided us with invaluable

professional insight and suggestions on how we can improve upon our current tech-based

education and training model to make it more accessible and equitable for all. Through these

informative interviews, we have been able to deduce that having in-demand tech-skills will not

only increase one’s job prospects, but also improve their current socioeconomic status. Today’s

jobs require at least a rudimentary knowledge and comfort level of technology and finding

candidates with the proper technical background is only going to increase. Whether we like it or

not, technology is going to continue advancing forward at a breakneck pace. To ensure that no

one is left behind, more must be done to promote and encourage active participation in

tech-based education and training in low-income communities.

The income inequality gap for the low-income community is widening. Some efforts are

made here to discover how to improve inclusive and equitable tech-based education and training

programs. However, this is just the beginning and many more miles are needed to be crossed

before closing the income equity gap or for minimizing it to an unavoidable acceptance.

However, the efforts here should lead to some discussion for and encourage activities towards

increasing the tech-based education and training among the low-income communities. If these

discussions and activities continue, in near future, the low-income community could be enabled

to get better financial security and the depiction of a society free from the income inequality gap

could be possible.
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Recommendations

Throughout the course of our research, it became evident that having tech-based

education and training can be used as an effective and meaningful way to bridge the income

inequality gap in low-income communities. Individuals with limited financial resources lack

options outside of attending a traditional four year college to receive the skills needed to break

into the tech industry. College is not for everyone and the time commitment and money needed

to graduate may not be feasible for all. Therefore, we should start encouraging and promoting

tech-based vocational training programs with the same vigor and excitement as college. Coding

boot camps and IT certificate programs provide the practical skills needed to obtain a job in tech

without having to go through years of college courses and prerequisites. Another thing to

consider is that these types of programs can be expensive and may be out of a person's budget to

afford. To offset this financial burden, these programs should be offered at a no or reduced cost

for those with limited financial means. Furthermore, scholarships and grants aimed at benefiting

recipients of low-income communities who want to enroll in these programs should be made

readily available and more accessible. Ultimately, our current financial situation should not

determine whether or not we have access to the type of quality training needed to better the lives

of ourselves, families, and communities.

Of course, implementing these changes will be no small feat. It would require the

combined effort between communities, schools, and the local government in order to promote

and or distribute this tech-based education to those in need. Thankfully, due to the COVID-19

pandemic, people are now more connected to the internet than ever before. If more time was

spent advertising these tech-based courses, rather than Hollywood drama, then the

income-inequality gap will begin to thin out. Also, the quality in skilled workers will increase as

a result of these online courses. This is due to the common fact that everyone learns at a
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different pace than others. If these technological classes were online, or in video format,

individuals will have the ability to re-watch/re-learn the content as many times as they would

like. Unfortunately, through the continuous neglect of the various bodies of power of the years,

many individuals don't believe they are capable of learning technology. That is why

implementing these changes now is more important than ever before. In order for a person to

grow, their access to education, especially tech-based, should never be hindered by where they

live or by how much money they make.

One of the biggest limitations of our research is the very few numbers of interviews. It

may limit our exploration of many possible solutions. In the future, the interview can be

conducted online using web forms on a wider scale to discover and propose more inclusive and

equitable pathways for low-income communities. We also recommend more research to

pinpoint the causes of the income inequality gap among the low-income communities and to

innovate appropriate strategies to reduce the gap.

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References

Nager, A., & Atkinson, R. D. (2016, May 31). The case for improving US computer science

education. Retrieved September 21, 2021 from

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3066335

Rolle, J., Kisato, J., & Kebaya, C. (2020). Preliminary review of abstracts on a handbook on the

future of work and entrepreneurship for the underserved. The Business & Management

Review, 11(2), 28–35. Retrieved September 21, 2021, from

https://csu-mb.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01CALS_UMB/r44bh4/cdi_proquest_

journals_2493535291

Vegas, E., & Fowler, B. (2020, August 4). What do we know about the expansion of k-12

computer science education? Brookings. Retrieved September 21, 2021, from

https://www.brookings.edu/research/what-do-we-know-about-the-expansion-of-k-12-com

puter-science-education/.
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Appendix

Appendix A

Interview with the senior director of programs at Vita Link: Neda Arab.

This interview was conducted over zoom and was recorded for quality insurance. The

interviewee was chosen because they work for a non-profit organization that provides tech-based

education to K-12 schools across Southern California. They have worked at this non-profit

organization for more than five years. Also, they are the site supervisor for the service learning

project as well.

In what ways do you think your professional experience has impacted your role here at

Vita Link?

● Their experience in customer service made it easier to communicate with various school

districts, and how to best accommodate a program that would allow all students to attend.

● Thanks to their efforts, they rose up in their organization to where they now lead all of

the programs being delivered to both students and teachers alike.

In what ways do you think tech-based education and training can help mitigate income

inequality in low-income communities and why?

● Due to covid more tech-based education programs have moved online.

● This allows those in low-income communities who can't make it due to work or school

still be able to participate/learn these programs.

● These online programs also make it easier for people to take notes as they can always

rewatch or re-learn what was discussed.

● This also helps people obtain that degree or certificate for them to get out of that

low-income state.

Do you think tech-based education would help prepare low-income communities for the

current job market?

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● Anyone no matter their race, gender, background, or socioeconomic status can have a

multitude of job opportunities if they were to have a tech-based education.

Do you think that there is enough tech-based education out there that is helping prepare

individuals for jobs in those fields and why?

● There are some and based on where that student is located in the various school districts

could result in different programs being offered.

● This mainly has to do with educators where if they don't want to go through the training,

then the students will never experience those programs.

How could your organization ensure the active participation of the low-income

communities in tech-based education or training?

● Vita Link not only partners with k-12 districts but also other organizations like those that

give housing to low-income communities.

● Through this they are able to provide their educational programs to these families.

● Their programs can range from free college classes to the necessary training needed to

earn certificates.

● Through this these individuals will be able to acquire those long lasting jobs that will

help them get out of their current financial status.

There are many misconceptions regarding computer or tech-based education (e.g. it is for

only smart people, it is difficult, etc). What would you suggest to eradicate these

misconceptions?

● They have worked with both young and old educators during the covid pandemic.

● These older educators are making their zoom calls more interactive as well as bringing in

outside sources to help introduce new programs for students to learn.

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● However, these younger educators aren't bringing in newer programs due to the sense of

being overwhelmed and having to change the way they teach again.

● In the end, it doesn't matter how much experience an educator has, but if they are willing

and can understand the improvements that incorporating a new program will bring to

their students.
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Appendix B

Interview with project lead for Code for San Jose’s OSM project: Minh Nguyễn

This interview was conducted over Slack video conferencing software and recorded with the
interviewee’s permission. The full transcript is included below. The interviewee was chosen due
to his extensive knowledge of Code for San Jose’s OSM project, his professional software
engineering experience, and Computer Science background from Stanford University. He
proposed and successfully launched this project last year and oversees other map-based civic
projects that benefit the residents of Santa Clara County by ensuring that all South Bay residents
have adequate representation on the map and have access to community-based and commercial
services in the OpenStreetMap ecosystem. He’s also the site supervisor for this service learning
project.

In what ways do you think your professional experience has impacted your role here at
Code for San Jose's OSM project?
Yeah, so this is interesting because my involvement at Code for San Jose does overlap
professionally with what I do at my day job. My day job involves using OSM (OpenStreetMap)
data and it's not purely about using OSM data but that's one of the data sources that my company
uses. There's a little bit of a nice synergy as it were because I'm able to get that perspective so I
can take it back with me at work. Also, in conversations that I've had with folks at Code for San
Jose and OSM, I'm able to bring in some insider perspective from working with this data in a
very practical sense. For example, in OSM we’re mapping streets and in my day job, the
software I write is using the same street data to help users navigate and stuff. So I'm able to bring
in a user experience perspective to these data projects and it's not the only perspective that
matters but what I found is that it's kind of specialized. In the past, mappers have wondered
what's the best way to model a certain intersection or road. Or when you’re thinking about
searching, what kind of representation for a city is going to be best for a search engine. I'm able
to at least have some clue that I can bring back to the group and that has impacted my role here
just in terms of being able to share that perspective.

In what ways do you think tech-based education and training can help mitigate income
inequality in low-income communities and why?
This is one I might have a hard time answering because I come from a background where
I’m far enough removed now, like my high school education was a couple decades ago. When
you talk about tech-based education and training, sometimes people think about elementary and
secondary and that sort of stuff and I’m very far removed from what that environment is like
these days. So I don't know specifically how it would help mitigate income inequality in
low-income communities but what I can say is that I’ve worked with a lot of people who've
come straight out of coding camp for example. When I started working with my current
employer, which was a very small start-up, they recruited people straight out of coding boot
camps. I think this gives people an opportunity that they might not otherwise have. These are
people who might not have had the opportunity to go to some of the vaunted Stanford's of the
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world. I think there’s potential there because some of those programs are a lot more diverse than
some of the traditional educational institutions. I do think that it's not just about setting up the
programs but also creating an acceptance within the tech-industry of people who are going
through these (coding boot camp) programs. I’m reminded of the time that I represented Mapbox
at a recruiting event at San Jose State’s engineering department which is more diverse than most
engineering departments around the country. I was very excited about this, others were excited
about this too, and I think it was kind of an eye-opener because the event was just so much
different then the kinds that I had been to before. There was just so much more excitement. One
of the regrets that I have is that I haven't been able to participate in as many of those because I
think it’s a harder sell within the tech industry to take that kind of risk and go to schools that are
maybe not your stereotypical brand named school. I want to be clear, coding bootcamps are a
shortcut because they do focus on very practical skills. I myself prefer doing all the practicum to
the theory and there’s a role for all of that. I just think that when my company was more open to
hiring people from bootcamps or from community colleges and had an openness to looking at
resumes holistically, people were able to show their promise in different ways. Once they were in
the door, then they were able to grow into the role that maybe a more traditional hire would have
been expected to have but it was no loss to the company as far as I’m concerned. It’s sort of an
awareness gap about what’s possible there.

Do you think tech-based education would help prepare low-income communities for the
current job market?
Yes, I do think it does and really at this point STEM in general and technology within
that is pretty important for being marketable in the job market and there are pros and cons. I
know that an overfocus on STEM education kinda leaves the arts on the table for example. It
does come back to the issue of diversity because the technology fields have so long been
dominated by people from a certain socioeconomic background. That not only shuts people out
from the job market but also deprives communities of tech that’s serving them because there’s
just such a disconnect between who's making the technology and who's using it. On a personal
level, is it preparing people for the job market? Yes, I think so because when you have that
STEM educational background, you have a little bit less explaining to do, right? I was just
talking to you about people from coding bootcamps. They might have a really great resume but
I’ve seen and worked at companies where they’d look at the top line to see where the person was
educated and toss out the resume based on that and ignore the rest. If it’s that way for someone
who already has tech-based education, just nontraditional, then for someone who doesn’t have
that field formerly, that makes it that much harder. So in that sense, I do think this is true.

Do you think that there is enough tech-based education out there that is helping prepare
individuals for jobs in those fields and why?
I'm certainly not the authority on this but I do get the sense that there is a strong desire
among educational institutions and community leaders and government to set up more of this
kind of structure.I wouldn't know whether it's actually meeting these needs. All I can say from
my perspective of trying to hire for certain tech positions, there’s actually a lot of people out
there who are getting this kind of tech-based training. It’s just a lot of companies saying it's hard
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to hire or it’s impossible to hire. A lot of it is actually saying more about the company's policy
itself, the standards it’s setting, and its process for hiring. More than who's actually entering the
market.

How could your organization ensure the active participation of low-income communities in
tech-based education or training?
This is actually something that I think both organizations have struggled with and it's
actually pretty well-known that OpenStreetMap (OSM) has struggled with this. Like a lot of
online communities, it does have a diversity gap. In OpenStreetMap US, which is a subset of the
OpenStreetMap project, the focus has been on establishing partnerships because as an online
based community, you're kind of limited to the people you know and those people you know are
the people who find you online and that's already sort of self-selecting. The idea is to partner
with brick and mortar organizations as it were. For example, OSM US has started a partnership
with an NGO called Kaboom and they focus on installing playground equipment in underserved
neighborhoods. Because of that partnership, they are able to use OpenStreetMap, their mapping
technology, and those sorts of ideas to a broader community as well. In return, the existing OSM
community is able to learn from that perspective and this partnership will involve both sharing
ideas but also having people directly onboard new contributors. Those types of partnerships are
really important because there is only so much you can do on your own with what you already
know.

On the Code for San Jose side, I actually view Code for San Jose and Code for America
Brigades as one of those kinds of partnerships because it's already sort of ideologically aligned.
The idea of Code for San Jose is improving civic technology for a broader swath of the
population. OpenStreetMap’s ethos is around democratizing map making and that sort of fits in.
Code for America has historically attracted people who are already in pretty good shape in terms
of already being really well served by technology and so they want to give back and that’s great
but we have a challenge of trying to also establish partnerships. The most obvious kinds of
partnerships are with government agencies, libraries, and things like that but we're also trying to
reach out more. For example, this year there has been a lot of focus on partnerships with legal aid
organizations. Both for immigration rights and legal aid for the incarcerated and I don't want to
imply that that's the end all be all of low-income communities but it's one way of forcing
ourselves to stretch beyond our comfort zone. That's really the overall need here which is that
these organizations all need to go beyond their comfort zones. It’ll make organizations with these
missions more visible in low-income communities and also help them change their mission to
some extent-to take on more ambitious projects.

There are many misconceptions regarding computer or tech-based education (e.g. it is for
only smart people, it is difficult, etc). What would you suggest to eradicate these
misconceptions?
This is a great question. There’s a lot of different ways to tackle this. One that comes to
mind is I've always been a fan of not focusing on technologies themselves. When I first joined
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Code for San Jose, there was almost this ritual where anytime anyone demoed a project or told
someone about a project, they would always have to end or sign off with “here’s the technology
that I’m using…” and just list off a bunch of technologies. It was the thing that people wanted
you to come away remembering but the more important thing is the subject matter. There’s a
growing realization, especially in the civic tech-space, that sometimes the solution isn't
technology because you may be dealing with a social problem. Sometimes you don’t want to
solve a social problem with a technological solution. It’s really important to have that realization
and I think the tech-industry has a bit of a messaging problem. So much of what people talk
about in the tech-industry and computer science is all about technology but not what the
technology is doing for people. In smaller ways, I have always been impressed by the things that
people do often on the margins in this industry that are actually more people-centric than the
things that are product focused.

When I was working at Microsoft, that was my first job out of college, I remember this
one piece of advice that someone had told me, which was, “You’re at a big company. You're at
the bottom of the totem pole. If you do exactly what they say for you to do, it’ll take you years.
You got a lot of competition because you’re just competing on generic programmer kind of stuff.
But if you want to make a mark, focus on the ‘izations’ ” This includes personalization,
customization, localization, internationalization, and globalization. All these aspects of a
well-rounded software product or project in general help you as a front-line programmer as you
kind of dive into these huge problems. You quickly become the expert in these areas and you
don't have to be a genius. You don't have to be the one who has the high I.Q. or been to an
important college. You just have to take the time to investigate the problem, understand the
people behind it, and CARE. And that can be a huge differentiator in the industry.

I certainly went down that path and I really took to that advice. In my field, I focused on
localization as a key thing. It’s something that is important to me and it's become a differentiator
for me. I've seen other people who are able to do something similar with something as mundane
as good documentation. Technical writing is a skill that some people in CS have and other people
don't but the ones that do have it are able to perform a service for everyone else. It can be unsung
sometimes but it’s also very rewarding and you can establish a new niche for yourself. So in
terms of eradicating these misconceptions, I would focus on the subject matter and less on the
technology because the subject matter guides you towards caring about certain aspects of
software development or working on projects that are actually impactful. In doing this, you’ll
have less competition doing that because you’ll actually have a special perspective on things.
Also, it’s more interesting because it’s not just about the money or the generic fame of working
on certain products or projects. It’s not just about everyone having their own role either.
Officially, everyone has their own role at a company but the most rewarding stuff happens when
you break out of those roles. Sort of like being a rebel and escaping those silos that a traditional
company might put employees in to create something interesting. There's more than one way to
measure intelligence and there’s more than one way to measure success at a company. I think the
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most valuable way to approach a career in tech is to be less focused on the hype because it’s all
very formulaic and you want to break out of that formula essentially.
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Appendix C

Interview with the founder for the Rebecca Everlene Trust Company: Tamara C. Daniels

This interview was conducted over video conferencing software. However, Tamara chose

to email her answers to the interview questions before the virtual meeting. The full transcript is

included below. She is chosen because she offers virtual companionship to families who want to

keep their little ones educationally entertained during the COVID pandemic, in addition to

tutoring and services that promote financial and technological literacy. She also actively

encourages STEAM-based learning especially among students from low-income communities.

Tamara has a diverse educational background. She has a master's degree in Public Policy and

certificates from both Harvard Business School and Harvard Medical School.

1. In what ways do you think your professional experience has impacted your role here at

the Rebecca Everlene Trust Company?

My professional experiences have deeply impacted my role at RET by giving me the

capability and expertise to create curriculums that would be appealing to people of all ages. The

information also assisted me with launching the business in 2012 and serves as guidance in

helping me to manage operations and create projects for people to complete while working with

us. It has also given me the foresight to stay ahead of the competition and make sure that we are

able to keep our doors open with very little overhead.

2. In what ways do you think tech-based education and training can help mitigate income

inequality in low-income communities and why?

Yes, tech-based education is the key to addressing and eliminating the digital divide that

individuals in low-income areas experience frequently. If a person doesn’t have access to

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advanced technology at an early age, it’s very difficult for them to keep up. It’s also difficult to

bring elderly individuals up to speed with technology if they’ve never been forced to use it

before.

What we are seeing now and what the US government tried to do through the BTOP

(Broadband Technology and Opportunities Program) was get people acclimated to robodoctor

systems, and teach people simple things like learn how to apply for jobs and services online.

Now with the pandemic, these skills have become more important than ever because people are

now forced to have virtual doctor’s appointments, order food and groceries online, and also

apply for unemployment and social security online as well.

For people in these communities who don’t know how to do these things, they are going

to have an extremely difficult time making it in life. I don’t believe that we are going to revert

back to the way things were. Technology is here to stay and people must get with it.

3. Do you think tech-based education would help prepare low-income communities for the

current job market?

Honestly, I pursued technology myself and my parents forced me into programs when I

was younger because they knew that I needed to have certain skills to be able to succeed in life.

Now there is no surefire way to keep a job and stay gainfully employed, but definitely knowing

your way around technology and being a fast learner can affect your job stability.

In high school, I took courses to learn how to type. I was also enrolled in engineering

programs, one of which was held at IIT and another at Kennedy King College.
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I have no regrets about what I know tech-wise, although I do think it’s important to teach

kids how to code early on in life so that they can develop the fortitude that it takes to write code,

which is a valuable skill. That is something that I never learned. I can alter code and install web

parts, but I am unable to write programs from scratch or do patching.

4. Do you think that there is enough tech-based education out there that is helping

prepare individuals for jobs in those fields and why?

There is enough tech-based education available, but ensuring that people are enrolling in

the programs is a different story. You cannot force someone to do something that they feel is

irrelevant or challenges their contentment.

5. How could your organization ensure the active participation of low-income

communities in tech-based education or training?

The only way to ensure active participation is by eliminating the face-to-face component

to force people into that world. The programs are there. It’s just difficult to motivate people to

enroll in them. Possibly offering a stipend or reward for participation may help. Money always

helps to entice people, but there needs to be an element of interest in it for them because even

after enrolling, if a person is bored, they won’t do well or pay attention to the material being

taught. At the Rebecca Everlene Trust Company, we encourage STEAM-based learning

especially among students from low-income communities, and provide tutoring and services that

promote financial and technological literacy.

6. There are many misconceptions regarding computer or tech-based education (e.g. it is

for only smart people, it is difficult, etc). What would you suggest to eradicate these

misconceptions?
 26
That’s a good question. I think to eliminate misconceptions, people have to try the

products and make a personal decision about the offering. Having game-based platforms also

makes learning more fun and keeps people engaged.

You still have people who need to withdraw money from their bank accounts driving to

the bank to deposit checks and this is because of a fear of technology.