Five Ways President Obama’s TechHire Initiative Will Drive Diversity in the Industry

[Commentary] President Barack Obama has been vocal about the role that technology will play in creating greater opportunities for all Americans. The President’s latest initiative on this front, TechHire, dedicates $100 million to train people without technical skills for in-demand, well-paying technical jobs, and match them with employers that have “urgent” needs in fields like cybersecurity, software development and coding. After TechHire’s unveiling, most of the discussion centered around the impact it would have on middle-class individuals, particularly those without four-year degrees. However, barely any discussion has examined the equally dramatic effect that TechHire will have on the tech industry. Perhaps its biggest contribution will come in the form of some much-needed diversity in the industry. Here are five ways that TechHire will drive greater diversity in tech:

1. Access to technical education for low-income and underserved Americans
2. Connecting traditionally non-technical cities with new opportunities
3. Making education accessible to people from all socioeconomic backgrounds
4. Providing new nontraditional education paths
5. Modernize hiring practices for businesses and local governments

[Vivek Ravisankar is the co-founder and CEO of HackerRank]