Free 'coding bootcamp' to help boost tech careers for 40 black women

A £250k programme has been set up to help black women forge careers in technology and computing.

The Black Codher Coding Bootcamp is offering six months of free training for 40 black women, funded by the West Midlands Combined Authority.

The coding bootcamp is for black women over 18, unemployed, or employed with a salary of under £20k.

Image credit: Black Codher

The course will supply the group of women, who have little to no tech background, new skills such as software programming, data management and analytics, Blockchain, AI and Machine Learning, and many more.

Upon completion of the course, the women will be given a job with one of the camp's partner employers with a starting salary of £30k.

The part-time course will run twice weekly for a period of 30 weeks between 6 pm and 9 pm in the city of Birmingham.

Programme manager for Black Codher, Olaoluwa Dada, said: "Although the numbers for diversity in tech are creeping up, we know that there are more black women that could benefit from high-earning career opportunities that a skill like coding can offer".

The tech sector is a traditionally exclusive industry. Not many black women know where to go to get these skills, or are even aware of the opportunities that being able to code can provide, thus making it important this particular demographic are encouraged to get involved in both coding and tech.

The void of black women in the tech sector makes their growing presence and involvement ever more significant - the unique social and cultural experiences of black women can serve to inform and influence the programmes and technology that are built in the future.

The course is undeniably a means of empowerment by giving black females real earning opportunity that they would not normally have access to.