Anyone Can Code? Power, Inclusion, and the Coding Fetish
11th November, 1-2pm
Dr Kate Miltner, Centre for Research in Digital Education
Abstract
Over the course of the past decade, learning to code has been positioned as a silver-bullet solution to a variety of structural social concerns, including social mobility for the economically marginalized and the underrepresentation of women and BAME individuals within the tech industry. In response to this discourse, a growing industry of coding ‘academies’ has developed across the globe, insisting that “anyone can code” and get a well-paid tech job with a few months’ intensive instruction. Drawing on a case study from an American coding school, this seminar will interrogate common coding-related claims and illustrate how subtle gatekeeping mechanisms at play within these schools end up subverting the well-intentioned goals they set out to achieve.
Biography
Kate Miltner holds a TRAIN@Ed Fellowship and is based in the Centre for Research in Digital Education, University of Edinburgh. Kate's research focuses on digital skills academies (coding schools and bootcamps). https://katemiltner.com/