September 20, 2024
Summer 2024 was transformative for five high school students in Amsterdam who belong to groups under-represented in the tech industry: female, non-white and low income.
After completing a four-week CODAM scholarship program focused on the basics of coding, four of them indicate that they want to continue developing their coding skills and to pursue computer science and IT studies in university. Click here for a longer report on the scholarship program which includes student feedback.
PreparationTech was asked by CODAM to recruit five high school students from Amsterdam to participate in a month-long coding scholarship program targeting groups under-represented in tech. CODAM is a coding school based in Amsterdam which delivers peer-to-peer and scalable programs for people ages 18+. The five high school students were recruited in collaboration with teachers at the Amsterdam-based high schools which participated in this year's PreparationTech pilot program. The five selected students represented:
The students who were selected completed the "selection piscine", CODAM's intensive four-week program which teaches the basics of coding. They studied with more than one hundred other candidates and completed a series of coding assignments and challenges. The piscine took place seven days per week, during the day and at night, with students choosing when to study. CODAM's programs are based on self-directed, peer-to-peer learning with minimal instruction from teachers. This program was a very different learning experience for these high school students who are used to teacher-centric learning and more direct teacher oversight.
We're proud to say that all of the scholarship students successfully completed the program and four out of the five students indicated that they intend to integrate computer science and coding into their post-secondary studies and career paths. This is a huge accomplishment, given that prior to the scholarship program, four of the five had only taken introductory coding courses and one student had never previously taken a coding course (although he was studying advanced math at school).
Some key findings:
Click here for a longer report on the scholarship program which includes student feedback.
PreparationTech strongly believes that providing girls, non-white students, and students from low-income backgrounds with extra opportunities to participate in specialized tech programs during high school is an effective strategy for tech talent development and a more diverse and inclusive Dutch tech industry. These types of programs will help attract more under-represented groups to tech-related study, training and career paths and ensure that they receive adequate and solid preparation to pursue college and university tech-related studies.