August 26th marked Women’s Equality Day, and Jasmine Miller’s Opinion piece, “Tech Fields Need More of a Woman’s Touch,” focuses on the need for women’s insight and experience in tech.

Jasmine Miller mentions from her perspective, “Just as diverse teams fuel innovation, better manage risk and create products that cater to a broader audience, so too does diversity drive better results, decisions and products when it comes to technology. Women bring a unique set of experiences, insights and solutions. In a world increasingly driven by technology, omitting women’s perspectives is not just a question of equity but of missed potential.”

Read more from Jasmine’s perspective.

Per Scholas has received a warm welcome to the Houston community, where we will be launching our first cohort this October at our new campus in Houston’s Ion District. 

Our expansion to Houston’s Ion District was featured in the Houston Business Journal – read Sofia Gonzalez’s article here!

We are thrilled that the launch of our new Per Scholas Houston campus was featured in Community Impact!

Read the article.

Per Scholas Baltimore, led by Managing Director Jessica Diaz Council, was featured in Technical.ly Baltimore, highlighting their skills training and professional development aspects. The Baltimore campus holds mock interviews and headshot lounge sessions in addition to our tuition-free tech training.

The article also noted Per Scholas Baltimore’s efforts to close the diversity gap in tech and recent Bank of America Neighborhood Builders award and featured alumna LaLonnie Moseley’s story.

Read the full story here!

Per Scholas New York Managing Director Debbie Roman discussed our tuition-free tech training on NY1, the 24-hour news network dedicated to NYC, with anchor Ruschell Boone. In her interview, Debbie shared information about Per Scholas’ footprint in New York and our accessibility to individuals in all five boroughs through our innovative satellite training model. She also reflected on how diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are at the core of Per Scholas and is reflective of the community and culture that lives in New York City.

The feature was during a Women Wednesday segment, where Debbie was highlighted as a woman leader, and she reflected on her 15-year career in workforce development following her move from Puerto Rico.

Watch Debbie’s interview here!

Every company is a tech company and in need of skilled tech talent. Per Scholas was proud to welcome NPR National Labor and Workplace Correspondent Andrea Hsu to our National Capital Region campus recently to connect with learners about their aspirations for careers in technology.

Per Scholas President and CEO Plinio Ayala discussed how every company is a tech company and how, despite the mass layoffs from tech companies, there are still hundreds of thousands of tech jobs available throughout the country.  Additionally, Per Scholas Instructor Keionna Yarborough and three current Per Scholas learners Elizabeth Mabrey, Michael Gomez, and Johntel Brandy, shared their experiences as technologists.

Read Andrea’s insightful piece, or listen to her reporting on the Consider This Podcast!

Per Scholas Chief Training Officer Jasmine Miller was featured by TEKsystems for her insight into women in tech and workforce equity. As a partner of Per Scholas, we have worked closely with TEKsystems to empower our learners and alumni to make a more streamlined, direct connection to in-demand employment opportunities in tech.

“Imposter syndrome can be a problem for women in any male-dominated field,” Jasmine Miller noted, “but because the IT industry is 75% male, the data shows that women report a lower rate of belonging than men. The needle will move when women are encouraged to bring their full selves to work and welcomed into an environment that supports them.”

In her role, Jasmine has been intentional about bringing in more women for Per Scholas’ training, where 41% of our learners in 2022 were women. Unlocking potential in women learners who step into tech roles has been a priority as a pioneer for equity.

Read the full feature here.

Earlier this week, Per Scholas New York’s Bronx campus was featured in the Bronx Times. The article described how Per Scholas is addressing the digital divide in tech, and breaking down barriers to entry into the tech industry, such as gender disparities in the field and lack of accessibility. 

Per Scholas has taken great strides over the years to increase the number of women in tech. “While women make up just under 30% of the tech workforce, that gender gap is steadily closing in Per Scholas’ network where 41% of their learners were women last year,” the article stated. Per Scholas New York Managing Director, Debbie Roman, was quoted in the piece, describing the collaborative effort it takes to create a supportive environment for women in tech.

Another issue that Per Scholas is seeking to tackle is the digital divide that has disproportionately affected students of color in the Bronx, setting students in majority-Black schools up to a year behind their peers in majority-White schools. “Why is broadband sort of seen as an added luxury?” Debbie Roman said in the article. “Closing that digital divide is relevant to anyone being able to get out of poverty and be able to enter into meaningful work space.”

Read the full article here!

Today, Per Scholas’ Executive Vice President of People, Montreece Smith, was featured in an article on the website of Take the Lead, a nonprofit organization that “prepares, develops, inspires, and propels women to take their fair and equal share of leadership positions across all sectors by 2025.”

In the article, Montreece, who began at Per Scholas as a volunteer in 2015, discusses the importance of Per Scholas’ mission to open doors to tech careers for persons of color. Despite a widespread, recent focus on DEIB in the workplace, people of color are still widely underrepresented in many STEM industries, including tech.

“According to a new report from McKinsey,” the article states, “‘Black people make up 12 percent of the U.S. workforce but only 8 percent of employees in tech jobs. That percentage is even smaller further up the corporate ladder; just 3 percent of technology executives in the C-suite are Black, according to a McKinsey analysis of Fortune 500 executives.’” This gap is expected to widen over the next decade, as is the wage gap for Black individuals in tech roles.

Per Scholas is actively working to alleviate this discrepancy by building a pipeline of diverse and talented workers, as well as fostering cultures of fairness and inclusion in workplaces. It is important, Montreece noted, for workplaces to address issues of diversity, not only in their recruitment practices, but also in the culture and climate of their workplaces. 

“There are many techniques employers need to think about to engage, retain and promote employees,” Montreece explained. “Corporations fail because they put forth effort in recruitment but do nothing about development. WOC and BIPOC are watching…[To POC]: Know your worth. Diversity does not mean less than. You are capable, you are worthy and you deserve an opportunity. ”

Read the full article here!

Per Scholas Columbus was featured on NBC4! The article discussed how our organization is bringing racial and gender diversity to Columbus’s rapidly growing tech scene, and highlighted our creation of the Tech Women of Color Alliance, which offers training and job placement assistance in the tech industry for women of color.

“We need to make sure that our city represents our citizens, which means that women of color need to be in that space,” Jenn Fowler Howard, our Managing Director for Per Scholas Columbus,  was quoted as saying.

Click here to read the full feature.