CodeClan, the Scottish digital skills academy, has sealed a new partnership in a bid to get more women into careers in technology.
The organisation will now work with The Young Women’s Movement, a national organisation for young women leadership and gender equality, and Scotland Women in Technology (SWIT). It follows research funded by the Workplace Equality Fund which identified a number of barriers and challenges facing women entering and progressing within the digital technology sector.
Jenni Snell, chief executive of The Young Women’s Movement, said: “We hope the recommendations can help other organisations, in and out of the tech industry, to prioritise promoting an inclusive workplace culture for young women. Diversity and a skilled workforce go hand in hand, we cannot address one without the other. Closing the digital skills gap is dependent on empowering women and girls of all backgrounds to enter into, and progress in, digital technology careers.”
CodeClan chief executive Loral Quinn said: “We wanted to do a deep dive into our offering to shine a light on how we can better evolve to meet the needs of women, including young women, on both our training programmes and our staff team.”
Specialising in 16-week software development and 14-week data courses, CodeClan has produced some 2,000 graduates from 120 immersive cohorts in software development and data from its Edinburgh and Glasgow campuses, as well as via remote learning, since launching in 2015. The not-for-profit organisation works with more than 300 industry partners, including hiring partners such as Skyscanner, FanDuel, Baillie Gifford and Tesco Bank.
In direct response to the survey findings, CodeClan is set to launch on-demand digital skills courses in September to better meet the flexibility sought out by women across Scotland, with Quinn adding: “On demand means we can offer immersive courses, whether or not you live near one of our campuses or have difficulty committing to set timetables because of other life commitments. It means women can access life-changing courses, laying the path for a career in tech, and we help them get jobs.”
CodeClan is partnering with SWIT to support the launch of the first cohort of women into its on-demand data science course starting in the autumn.
Source: The Scotsman