September 22, 2016
Google Tag Teams With the National Society of Black Engineers in Diversity Effort
The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and Google have joined forces to launch Code Success @ NSBE. The program is year-round and offers college students, who are also members of NSBE, coding boot camps led by expert instructors in the field, with emphasis on JavaScript, JAVA, Python, and Ruby coding languages; CS workshops at NSBE’s 2017 Annual Convention; and award competitions that encourage students to utilize the skills they have learned to develop innovative technology.
“This program shows what can happen when private industry and the nonprofit sector work together toward mutual goals,†says NSBE National Chair Matthew Nelson. “If you look at the statistics for bachelor’s degree recipients in computer science over the past six years in this country, you’ll see that the number of graduates has increased steadily. But, the percentage of African Americans among those graduates has decreased. Code Success @ NSBE will help us move the needle back toward parity for African Americans in this field.â€
“As a member of the Board of Corporate Affiliates, NSBE’s top-level supporters, Google has demonstrated its full commitment to increasing diversity in the high-tech sector,†says NSBE Executive Director Karl W. Reid, Ed.D. “The Code Success @ NSBE program is another example of Google’s willingness to lend its talent, creativity, and its financial resources to the strategic efforts that ensure that every population is tapped to fill the burgeoning demand for tech talent.â€
The program also provides one-on-one mentoring from members of the Institute for African American Mentoring in Computing Sciences (iAAMCS). Career services support will be available through a bi-monthly webinar series that explores topics such as academic preparation, technical resume development, interview preparation, internship opportunities, and more.
Additionally, 18 Code Success Scholarships will be awarded. Recipients will receive monthly review sessions and training focused on front-end, back-end, and full-stack web development languages, in addition to other benefits from the program.