New Programs Aim to Help Girls, Women Pursue Careers in Tech

A new award will help an organization dedicated to training females in technical fields reach a greater audience. The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) recently received a $4.1 million grant from the Cognizant U.S. Foundation, a nonprofit that supports STEM education and skills initiatives for U.S. workers and students. NCWIT is an alliance of 1,100 universities, companies, nonprofits and government organizations working to increase the participation of girls and women in computing. Cognizant, the international company behind the foundation, sells technical and digital transformation consulting and services.

NCWIT said the funding will be dedicated to setting up digital skills education programs and an "awareness campaign" to spark interest among females of all ages in going after careers in technology. The organization will set up coding skills camps for girls and women and developing training programs for school counselors in underserved areas. The initial focus will be on the south and southeast, particularly in those communities that are near corporate job and internship opportunities and where existing training partners exist. Job placement will also be a part of the programming, as will participation from Cognizant's own workforce as mentors.

The nonprofit projected that by the end of 2019, the new programs will "directly benefit" 2,243 girls and women; by 2021, the training network will reach 13,000.

"As of 2017, women held only 26 percent of professional computing occupations in the United States," said NCWIT Co-founder and CEO Lucy Sanders, in a statement. "To close this gap and fill an estimated 3.5 million computing-related job openings expected by 2026, we must make computing education accessible to all and attract diverse talent to the discipline. In doing so, a vast population with growing needs for technological products and services will be more equally represented in the innovation process."

Sanders added that the new award will better equip the organization to "extend our reach and create sustained change at the local level."

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • central cloud platform connected to various AI icons—including a brain, robot, and network nodes

    Linux Foundation to Host Protocol for AI Agent Interoperability

    The Linux Foundation has announced it will host the Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol project, an open standard originally developed by Google to support secure communication and interoperability among AI agents.

  • cloud connected to a quantum processor with digital circuit lines and quantum symbols

    Columbia Engineering Researchers Develop Cloud-Style Virtualization for Quantum Computing

    Columbia Engineering's HyperQ system introduces cloud-style virtualization to quantum computing, allowing multiple users to run programs simultaneously on a single machine. Learn how it works, why it matters, and highlights from other recent quantum breakthroughs from leading institutions and vendors.

  •  laptop on a clean desk with digital padlock icon on the screen

    Study: Data Privacy a Top Concern as Orgs Scale Up AI Agents

    As organizations race to integrate AI agents into their cloud operations and business workflows, they face a crucial reality: while enthusiasm is high, major adoption barriers remain, according to a new Cloudera report. Chief among them is the challenge of safeguarding sensitive data.

  • stylized illustration of a desktop, laptop, tablet, and smartphone all displaying an orange AI icon

    Report: AI Shifting from Cloud to PCs

    AI is shifting from the cloud to PCs, offering enhanced productivity, security, and ROI. Key players like Intel, Microsoft (Copilot+ PCs), and Google (Gemini Nano) are driving this on-device AI trend, shaping a crucial hybrid future for IT.