By Aekta Shah
As the technology industry continues to grow globally, the number of jobs in the field are rising exponentially. It is evident that the field is and has been dominated by men since its inception, however more and more female coders are beginning to enter the profession. As a woman in the industry myself, the growth of women in tech has been noticeable; however to the larger public, the shift is still very subtle. For many years, and still even today, a stereotypical “coder” is a man. Movies and TV shows have generally perpetuated this stereotype, yet that does not make women any less capable of the same job. Many organizations around the world have chimed in on this gap in the tech industry and have been working to encourage women of all ages to explore opportunities in tech and learn to code. One organization in particular that has received attention for their work in this field is Laboratoria, based in Latin America.
This social enterprise identifies young women with high potential, despite their economic limitations, and gives them the opportunity to learn to code and become web developers. Their goal is to empower Latin American women to become a new source of female tech talent for the world. Their program is a fully immersive educational experience for those recruited. Laboratoria supplements their technical education curriculum with personal development, working with psychologists to identify and strengthen the fundamental socio-emotional skills of their pupils. The curriculum currently focuses on front-end engineering with a heavy focus on web development. With varying levels of difficulty, students are able to progress through a number of courses that seek to continuously improve their skill set. They work with top local tech companies as well as with companies in Silicon Valley to learn what the market currently demands.
A unique aspect of this curriculum is the use of Agile principles in the classroom. Agile management is an iterative, incremental method of managing projects that is very commonly used in the tech industry for managing large software development projects. At the end of the program, students are connected with job opportunities within Laboratoria’s network of employers (400+ companies). The organization helps the graduates prepare for interviews and closely follows their progress in their early working years, giving support as needed.
As of 2016, Laboratoria has four major learning centers spread across Central and South America. They have already worked with 400 students who have received over a 75% job placement rate. After successful completion of Laboratoria’s curriculum, participants’ incomes have tripled on average. By 2020, the company’s goal is to have put 10,000 students through their program with an 85% job placement rate and four times the income.
Laboratoria has received high praise in the press for its work, including positive statements from CNN, TEDx, Al Jazeera, MIT Technology Review, and even from President Barack Obama and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. As the field of technology begins to diversify, Laboratoria’s commitment to close the gender gap in this field makes them an organization worth watching.
