These are times of great division, as the political climate in the U.S. and abroad makes clear. Not coincidentally, these are also times of great economic and technological disruption.

Virginia “Ginni” Rometty, chief executive of IBM, sees these trends as fundamentally linked, stemming from an underlying cause. “I believe so much of the division in our country and other countries roots down to this skills issue,” she said last Monday evening at Fortune’s CEO Initiative, a forum that convenes corporate leaders committed to addressing social problems through their businesses. The event took place at the Wagner Hotel in lower Manhattan.

The wedge separating layers of the social strata? Jobs. The challenge, as Rometty described it, is to make the transformations of the digital era inclusive, “so people can participate in it and not feel threatened by it,” she said. “We want society to feel there’s a good way forward on this.”

“It can’t just be about college degrees,” the executive said. “The system has got to work for everyone.”

To her point, IBM helped design an education program in 2011 geared toward providing disadvantaged populations with an opportunity to get ahead in the technology industry. At its heart is a Brooklyn school, called P-Tech, that blends high school and college level courses with an emphasis on vocational training and internships.

The technology industry has long struggled with diversity, equitably representing minorities across its workforces. Programs such as P-Tech aim to cultivate talent from these segments of the population, Rometty said.

IBM’s chief executive calls this type of education training for “new collar” jobs, a play on the term “blue collar,” which refers to working-class gigs. In her view, people should be able to make a good living without needing a traditional 4-year degree.

Rometty said 500 companies have since joined IBM as partners on the initiative. “I think we’ll get to a couple million kids in a few years,” she said.

“This is not corporate social responsibility,” Rometty added. “It’s more of an economic responsibility.”

美国内外的政治气候都表明，当前是极度分化的时代。与此同时，当前也是经济和技术面临巨大颠覆的时代。

IBM的首席执行官罗睿兰认为，这两种趋势之间在本质上存在联系，源自于同一个根本原因。上周一晚上，她在《财富》首席执行官倡议论坛上表示：“我认为，无论是在美国还是其他国家，分化很大程度上都是因为工作技能存在差距。”此次论坛在曼哈顿下城的瓦格纳酒店举行，商界领袖齐聚一堂，希望通过企业力量解决社会问题。

是什么像楔子一样把各个社会阶层分割开来的？答案是工作。正如罗睿兰所述，挑战在于提升数字时代变革的包容性，“这样一来人们才能参与其中，而不是感觉受到威胁。”她说道，“我们希望全社会觉得照此发展下去前景光明。”

“不能只盯着大学学位，” 这位首席执行官说道。“体系必须为所有人服务。”

她提出的观点已有实践，2011年，IBM协助设计了一个教育项目，主要向弱势群体提供机会从事科技行业。计划的核心是布鲁克林一所名为P-Tech的学校，混合了高中和大学水平的课程，以职业培训和实习为重点。

科技行业一直都在为多样性而努力，希望少数群体员工人数达到合理比例。罗睿兰称，P-Tech等项目的目标就是培养少数群体中的人才。

罗睿兰表示，此类教育培训是为“新领”工作做准备，所谓“新领”是将代指工薪阶层的“蓝领”一词稍作了改动。在她看来，人们想改善生活，不必非要接受传统的四年制大学教育。

罗睿兰称，成立以来已经有500家公司与IBM合作推进计划。“我想，几年内就将有数百万孩子参与其中。”她说道。

“这不是履行企业社会责任，”罗睿兰补充道，“更像是一种经济责任。”（财富中文网）

译者：艾伦

审校：夏林