Should Everyone Learn How to Code?
Every now and then someone sends me an article about training, or retraining, of professionals in technology with themes like the one below:
Or this one:
When I receive these posts in my inbox, I feel as though people are letting me know that there are others out there with the potentially challenging point of view that maybe everyone shouldn’t learn how to code.
It is definitely a complex question and I don’t know that there is a perfect answer. Coding is a hot topic right now. It’s sexy. It’s popular. It balances a perfect blend of workforce training risk with workforce training reward. It’s not really a secret that many are looking at the skill as a current and future workforce staple.
With all of the hype and very apparent need for a more technologically proficient workforce we are going to continue to see a lot more effort across the US to train people in these skills. Privately held bootcamps, nonprofit bootcamps, the Department of Workforce Development, the Department of Education, and many more are currently, and will continue, to get programs in gear.
In the first link shared above, Basel Farag makes the argument is that using code isn’t as much about coding as it is about problem solving methodologies. He also touches on the difficulty of going from someone who is self taught in coding to being an employed software engineer. He argues that the steps along the way are comprised of hard work and poor pay.
I think that some of Farag’s thoughts are valid. His argument for teaching someone how to assess a problem and find the best possible tool to fix the problem is spot on. Coding isn’t always the answer and sometimes we look to technology to fix issues that are actually rooted in process or human interaction. I agree that skill of coding by itself is not a silver bullet solution to every issue that has ever existed.
In terms of effort set forth to outcomes granted, hard work and poor pay are a staple across most industries. I would argue that any career that requires a college degree begins with negative income. The assumption is that the people who are going through that monumental effort are doing it because they really want the outcome.
In the second link shared above is the story of a bootcamp that was aimed at teaching coal miners how to code in order to give them a path from a very threatened industry to a shiny new one. The only issue with that training was that there weren’t any jobs waiting for them on the other side.
I can’t say for certain, but I bet you that those who started the bootcamp for those coal miners had good intentions. However, aside from remembering what the road to hell is paved in, the company Mined Minds probably didn’t put enough thought into where their students were going to work after the program. Retraining doesn’t stop after someone completes the course. It stops after they get a job.
Aside from issues of geography as it pertains to locations of potential employment, we are beginning to treat job retraining for coders and tech positions the same as other industries. Workforce development has experience in retraining people for manufacturing jobs, hospitality jobs, nursing jobs, and more. But how do you train people to build systems that eventually cut down on the number of jobs all together?
Wait…you guys know that is what the goal is, right?
In Joseph E. Aoun’s book, “Robot-Proof: Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence”, he points out that at their peak in 1979, General Motors employed 600,000 workers in comparison to Google in 2015 which employed just under 62,000.
We can’t turn a blind eye to the reality that we are trying to give people skills that have and will continue to replace assembly line workers, low level employees, and more. That is why coding and tech skills are important after all. They increase productivity.
This is where I would argue that people shouldn’t learn how to code just to get a job, they should be learning how to code for their freedom (check out this post for reference).
In short, my answer to the question posed at the beginning of this post is…It depends. Helpful, right!
Strictly speaking, talking about adult training, or retraining, in coding is complex. We are considering situations where people are looking to change the trajectory of their lives. That isn’t small. Getting people employable skills in a world where the disparity between high paying jobs and low paying jobs continues to grow is a very big task. It requires an ecosystem rather than a program.
If we are talking about learning to code on an individual basis it comes down to personal investment. Learning to code is the same as any other subject or skill. You won’t stick with it if it doesn’t resonate with you.
So, the next time someone asks me if everyone should learn to code I will tell them, “Go try it and tell me what you think.”
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this story please give it some love by clicking the applause button (Hint: you can click that button up to 50 times for a story).
Alex Sejdinaj is a cofounder of South Bend Code School, GiveGrove, and Code Works. He loves building cool stuff that helps people.
