Tech Advocates Target High-Potential College Students to Tackle Equity Gaps

SAN FRANCISCO, May 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- CodePath.org, a nonprofit dedicated to closing the diversity gap in tech, today announced a partnership with AnitaB.org, an advocacy organization that works to advance women in computing, to identify, inspire, and prepare minority and female computer science students for careers in Silicon Valley.

"This initiative provides a path of exposure, access, and opportunity for underrepresented communities in computer science," said Brenda Darden Wilkerson, president and CEO of AnitaB.org. "Investing in talented college students--and equipping them with coding know-how--will enable a more inclusive future of work."

Through the initiative, CodePath.org will work on-the-ground, across college campuses, to launch programs that teach up-to-date, industry-relevant coding skills. Eligible students will receive free access to Codepath's 2019 "virtual course," which provides personalized instruction on the technology industry's most in-demand skills, such as iOS and Android development.

Recent research from the University of Texas at Austin found that, while Black and Latinx students join STEM majors at roughly the same rate as their white peers, they are far less likely to complete. Women, meanwhile, now earn 57.3 percent of all bachelor's degrees, but only 17.9 percent of computer science degrees.

"Our work is focused on shifting the conversation from inclusion to influence. These students are not simply meeting the bar for success in tech—they're raising it," said Michael Ellison, founder and CEO of CodePath.org. "We're proving that when students from underrepresented backgrounds, who often attend less-selective colleges, have access to personalized instruction that meets them where they are, they demonstrate every bit as much potential as peers from the nation's most elite institutions."

About CodePath.org: CodePath.org is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit transforming computer science education for underrepresented minorities at over 30 colleges and universities, doubling in size every semester. Working closely with major technology companies like Facebook, CodePath.org is changing what is being taught and how it is being taught in CS programs nationwide to increase diversity in tech using a system-wide solution.

About AnitaB.org:  AnitaB.org is a nonprofit social enterprise committed to increasing the representation of women technologists in the global workforce. AnitaB.org engages with tens of thousands of women and leading organizations around the world to build diverse and inclusive workplace cultures. Founded in 1997 by our namesake, computer science visionary Anita Borg, our organization works toward a future where the teams that create technology mirror the people and societies for whom they build it.

SOURCE CodePath.org