A £250k funded ‘coding bootcamp’ is helping black women forge careers in technology and computing.
The Black Codher Coding Bootcamp is offering free six-month training for 40 black women aged 18-35, thanks to funding from West Midlands Combined Authority.
The immersive course will allow women with little to no tech background to learn new technical skills, such as software programming, data management and analytics, design thinking, Blockchain, AI and Machine Learning and many more.
Not only that, but at the end of the course, the 40 women who complete the training will be given a job with one of the camp’s partner employers with a starting salary of more than £30k.
The part-time coding bootcamp will run twice a week in the evening for 30 weeks between 6 pm and 9 pm in the city of Birmingham
‘Although the numbers for diversity in tech are creeping up, we know that there are more black women that could benefit from high-earning career opportunities that a skill like coding can offer,’ Olaoluwa Dada, programme manager at Black Codher tells Metro.co.uk.
‘From our observation, not many black women know where to go to get these skills or are even aware of the opportunities that being able to code can provide; this is why black women should be encouraged to get involved in coding and tech.’
Olaoluwa believes that it is vital black women are given the opportunity to thrive in these traditionally exclusive industries.
‘Black women offer their social and cultural experience which can inform the programmes and technology that are built in the future,’ she explains.
‘The consequences of bias technology can be very detrimental to society. For example Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming the driving force behind most technology being designed and built.
‘AI is a system that learns based on the data it receives. The more diverse the data is, the more objective and personal it can become.
‘We believe that technology will become more diverse and personal as more black women are given opportunity to design, code, create and influence the kind of data fed to systems that become tech solutions.’
The hope is to create more opportunities for black women to upskill and Olaoluwa wants to provide a route out of income poverty.
‘This course will be a means of empowerment by giving black females earning opportunity that they wouldn’t usually have access to,’ she adds.
‘This can help to create more representation in the tech industry even make a region like the West Midlands rich in skills that impact the economy of cities positively.’
To apply, you must have an interest in getting into a tech career and in developing the skills and knowledge to become a web/mobile application developer.
You must be over 18 and unemployed, or employed but with a salary lower than £20k.
The deadline for applications is 12 June, and you can apply on the Black Codeher website.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/05/22/coding-bootcamp-offering-six-months-free-training-black-women-12744559/
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