SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Disabled engineers make great contributors—if they can get past the interview
[...] People with disabilities are under represented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) jobs compared with their numbers in the overall population, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau. But those who succeed share qualities of acceptance, tenacity, and resilience. By necessity, these engineers and coders have well-honed problem-solving skills.
There are three examples quoted in the article. I am sure some of you have had similar experiences. What are your views on this?
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
Why Hire Engineers With Disabilities? They're Practised Problem Solvers
|
Log In/Create an Account
| Top
| 22 comments
| Search Discussion
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
I am a bookaholic. If you are a decent person, you will not sell me
another book.
(Score: 2) by donkeyhotay on Tuesday December 27 2016, @09:14PM
Great article. Another area that IT tends to fall down on is with age. There is an assumption that only younger workers can handle new technology. This year, my company started developing some mobile apps. They began with one young guy doing almost all the work. He decided to leave the company just as they were starting an important project. This put managment in a pickle because they had an aggressive development schedule, no one else availble with experience in the chosen mobile platform, and no time to hire someone from the outside. One of the managers suggested giving the project to me, because I had expressed an interest in mobile development. The director was skeptical because I was practically the oldest guy in the department, but he had little choice. He took a gamble and gave me the project. I dove right in, working nights and weekends in order to learn the new platform. I managed to meet every deadline and everything worked.
I recently got the director to admit that he was skeptical because of my age. The truth is that age is not a determining factor. There are a lot of talented people in IT at all ages. There are also a lot of blockheads at all ages. Just because someone is young does not mean they are a whiz at everything. Just because someone is older does not mean that they can't take on a challenge.
There is a tremendous amount of prejudice in IT management, whether the issue is age, disability, or whatever.