Here’s a simple idea for increasing diversity in tech

The tech sector needs more talent. The tech sector is also lacking in diversity. It seems simple: Solve one problem with the other by recruiting more technologists of color.

But still there remains a “catch-22,” as entrepreneur and newbie technologist Kahiga Tiagha explains in a guest post for Technical.ly Philly: For people of color to get into the tech sector in the first place, they need experience. But where can they get that experience if they haven’t worked in tech before?

Enter apprenticeships, which teach newcomers the basics and offer support systems as they navigate the tech ecosystem. Tiagha points to a few local success stories here in Philly, such as Interactive Mechanics’ fellowship program that’s already earning its first participants dev jobs.

“The sooner our industry adopts the apprenticeship/fellowship model more widely, the corollary effect would be the effective bridging of the talent gap,” he writes.