Breaking barriers through the digital workforce: Providing IT training and employment pipelines for ex-offenders

Tenesha Y. Robinson and Tonya Smith-Jackson

Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2023, vol. 190, issue C

Abstract: With incarcerations on a steady increase, the United States is positioned to be the country with the highest incarceration rates in the world. A large majority of those incarcerated will be released back into the community, and represent a significant portion of the working-age population. Every year, incarcerated individuals are released with the expectation of reintegrating back into society, but are often met with opposition when looking for employment due to a lack of skills and the stigma of a criminal history. Lack of employment is one of the primary causes of recidivism. With rapid advancements and the pervasiveness of technology in our daily lives, offering Information Technology (IT) training to previously incarcerated individuals is a logical strategy to increase access to more stable opportunities and meet the growing demand for more IT professionals. Access to IT training would help increase skill sets, knowledge, and competencies of previously incarcerated workers in preparation for re-entering the workforce. This research applies Social Exchange Theory to examine approaches to managing technology to increase the domestic skilled IT workforce in more effective ways; while also increasing diversity and access to opportunities for those who were incarcerated.

Keywords: Social Exchange Theory; Information Technology (IT); Re-entry; Recidivism; Workforce training (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:190:y:2023:i:c:s0040162523001233

DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2023.122438

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