In celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD) which took place on 8 March, ALX announced its first-ever all-female software engineering cohort, enabling up to 50 000 women across Africa to be at the helm of the global technology revolution and helping to transform the tech status quo throughout the continent.
Thanks to a partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, ALX is offering fully sponsored placements at no cost to thousands of young women in South Africa who meet the eligibility requirements for this world-class programme. This will equip them with employable skills to enter high-growth career paths in the global digital economy.
The cohort forms part of ALX’s ‘WomXn and Tech’ initiative and was inspired by the United Nations IWD theme of ‘DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality.’ It is through this inaugural female cohort that ALX will take the steps necessary to reduce this significant disparity.
ALX is showing its commitment to helping bridge the digital gender divide, increasing the representation of women in the industry and driving the participation of women to innovate and create solutions for a diverse world. This cohort will provide a launch pad for ALX to launch their careers in one of the most exciting and in-demand fields in the world.
Part of African Leadership International (ALI), ALX is a career accelerator programme training thousands of software engineers and developing other in-demand tech-talent.
According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021, South Africa ranks 18th out of 156 countries when it comes to the gender gap. At face value, this might seem positive, but the reality is that the country features very poorly (69th) when it comes to educational attainment and economic participation and opportunity (92nd). Less than 13% of girls attain STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) skills in comparison to more than 27% of boys. For software engineers, this means that there is a significant gender divide that must be addressed.
“The exclusively female software engineering cohort we are introducing helps to reduce this significant divide and empower women with the skills necessary to become software engineers,” says Vatiswa Gilivane, Activations Manager at ALX South Africa.
With 50% of technology users being women, they must become more involved in the engineering process. Not being able to tap into 100% of the market potential when it comes to software engineering, significantly hampers innovation as well as being able to harness the talents of all South Africans.
Even though 35% of ALX programmes are geared towards women, double the global average, the organisation is aiming for 50% with this new cohort in place.
“It is about encouraging young women in South Africa to embrace technology as a future career path. The investment ALX is making in this cohort reflects the potential we see in the country and provides a dynamic environment for women to see STEM as something that they can be part of,” says Gilivane.
The all-women software engineering cohort will be designing solutions for communities, cities, countries, and the virtual world. They will be at the forefront of Africa’s trajectory into the 4th Industrial Revolution and gain the skills vital to help drive the continent forward in economic growth.
The cohort will provide women with a collaborative environment for growth and has been designed to support them from the start of their training and throughout their career journeys as they become part of the exclusive and diverse community of technology professionals in The ROOM.
This programme has been made possible following the recent acquisition by ALI of leading Silicon Valley institution, Holberton Inc. ALX is now one of the largest software engineering trainers in the world which aligns with the organisation’s mission to develop Africa’s human capital at scale and enabling women with best-in-class digital skills and excellence.
Applications for the ALX cohort opened on 15 February and closes on 15 March. The cohort will start on 27 March.
No prior experience or background in IT is required to apply. For more information on the cohort and its entry requirements, please visit www.a;xafrica.com.
