Google to offer women and people of color free coding lessons
Ever since Google unveiled its numbers in terms of diversity regarding its work staff, the company has been making an effort to fix the lack of women and people of color in its offices.
Just 17% of Google employees are women, but a new initiative is seeking to change that.
At Google I/O, its developer conference, the company had more than 1,000 women developers in attendence, and featured an all-women developer team in Nigeria. In addition to the lottery system it uses to give away tickets, Google gave passes to organizations like Women Who Code and the Anita Borg Institute For Women and Technology.
Now, Google’s Women Techmakers’ initiative is teaming up with Code School to get even more people involved in programming.
Google will pay for three months’ worth of Code School for “thousands of accounts,” according to Code School’s blog.
“Together, our goal is to invest in women and minorities so they can continue developing their technical skill sets,” Code School said. “Having access to self-learning programs (such as Code School) is instrumental in that.”
As more information about the demographics of tech companies in Silicon Valley come to light, Google’s inclusive programs are more important than ever. Facebook, Yahoo! and Google only have a workforce that is 2 percent black.
Women already inside of Google’s development community, as well as Google I/O attendees are the only ones who can take advantage of the training on coding.
Will programs like the Women’s Techmakers initiative help provide opportunities for women and people of color? How should we go about getting more diverse bodies into tech positions?
Sound off below!