Brokers, Boot Camps and Graduate Degrees

Pathways to Technically-Skilled Careers in Silicon Valley


Author
France Winddance Twine and Meeta Rani Jha

What resources do American and Indian women mobilise to overcome the obstacles they encounter as they struggle to pursue advanced studies in engineering? This article draws upon interviews with 80 technically skilled women including Asian Americans, Blacks, Whites and Non-Resident Indians employed in Silicon Valley. It finds 5 distinct pathways to careers as an engineer. These pathways included 1) accelerated engineering academies also known as ‘coding boot camps’, 2) brokers (recruiters), 3) internships 4) graduate study on student visas and 5) family visas. This is significant contribution to the literature on IT workers, the technology industry, labour migration, the new economy, and post-graduate training in STEM.

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