Recruitment efforts at top tech firms have traditionally targeted students at elite colleges and Ivy League universities, leading to a predominantly white, male workforce. Because of that, companies have missed out on top talent from the 101 historically black colleges and universities , which produce a growing number of science and tech professionals.
Tech’s lack of diversity is often called a pipeline problem, but Silicon Valley’s passive attitude toward diverse recruitment is really to blame, says Megan Holston-Alexander, a senior associate at Unusual Ventures who helped create the internship program. As the very first step in the initiative, 10 computer science students from a group of handpicked HBCUs—including Howard University, Hampton University and Alabama A&M University—will participate in 10- to 12-week internships. They will be matched with tech companies like Zola, DataStax, zScaler and Harness, with the possibility of full-time employment after completing the internship.
Next summer, Unusual plans to enroll up to 50 interns and partner with additional HBCUs. The firm’s goal is to eventually expand the internship to a semester program whereby students receive college credit.
Business Business Latest News, Business Business Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: Forbes - 🏆 394. / 53 Read more »
Source: Forbes - 🏆 394. / 53 Read more »