"I considered her opinion on tech to be invalid when she claimed that tech isn't merit based."
How is tech merit based? Truthfully, most vocational jobs are more merit-based than technology. We see technology companies filtering on a long list of items (school attended, age, etc.) that have very little to do with merit. If you have had opportunity, technology is a wonderful career, but it just isn't merit-based. It does suffer from the same problems as every other professional career.
The merit-based utopia meme needs to leave so we can actually look at the trends and decide if some things need correcting.
How is tech merit based? Truthfully, most vocational jobs are more merit-based than technology. We see technology companies filtering on a long list of items (school attended, age, etc.) that have very little to do with merit. If you have had opportunity, technology is a wonderful career, but it just isn't merit-based. It does suffer from the same problems as every other professional career.
The merit-based utopia meme needs to leave so we can actually look at the trends and decide if some things need correcting.