All-female coding bootcamp develops agile, determined graduates
TEKsystems graduated 26 full-stack developers.
Dec. 18, 2019 | By TEKsystems
“My mother was in IT quality assurance since I was 5,” explains Amber Gipson, Dallas resident and recent graduate of an all-female coding bootcamp sponsored by TEKsystems through Trilogy Education Services. “My mom would talk about scrum and other coding languages, and she encouraged me to get into the field.”
Amber, now a developer at TEKsystems, has already learned five different coding languages and plans to be certified in more. She loves the idea of robotics and 3D printing. After her mother suffered a stroke and became paralyzed on her left side, this became an even more meaningful career choice. One day she wants to help make affordable prosthetics for people who need them.
Amber was one of 26 women who participated in the intensive 12-week coding bootcamp held in summer 2019 at TEKsystems. The women came from all walks of life and experience.
“A handful of the students had taken time off from their careers to start a family and were reentering the workforce,” says Leslie Deutsch, director of learning solutions at TEKsystems. “Some were right out of college, using it as a bridge program into a career in technology.” IT jobs are projected to grow at twice the national rate over the next decade (BLS).
The course was a full-stack coding bootcamp broadly covering HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Angular, Java and SQL with an emphasis on Agile methodologies. The course material focused heavily on software engineering skills like modular design and building for maintainability and scalability. There was an emphasis on team collaboration and how they take feedback helping build a continuous learning mindset.
Did you know?
45% of women working in IT hold a degree unrelated to a STEM field
(TEKsystems)
“As new technologies emerge daily, the topics they are learning today are not going to be what they are working on in the future,” says Leslie. “How are they going to keep learning, keep being curious? If they are struggling in an area, how are they going to figure it out? We emphasized that curiosity and determination in the program.”
The bootcamp focused not only on skills in high demand in the IT field but aimed to prepare more women for success in technology, as the first all-female cohort of its kind sponsored by TEKsystems. Women account for only 25% of the IT workforce and 18% of computer science degree graduates (TEKsystems).
“TEKsystems recognizes the need for more women in IT,” says Franklin Reed, director of inclusion and diversity at TEKsystems. “Their perspective and experience are needed as products and applications are developed, and we’re taking purposeful steps to make that a reality by investing in programs like this bootcamp.”
Amber was inspired to see TEKsystems taking action and giving women the opportunity and the support to prove themselves, “When someone has confidence in you, it makes you feel good and want to do better. This class was only three months, but it changed the rest of my life.”
Learn more about TEKsystems.com/careers and discover the power of inclusion, diversity and real partnership.
Female coding scholarships through DEVELOP(her)
Learn more about how TEKsystems is supporting women in technology