The year 2020 has been illuminating. Social unrest and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement shined a light on the inequity that minority communities face in their daily lives, or in getting access to jobs in industries like tech.
Udacity wants to stamp out this inequity, and we believe that the path to better careers for underrepresented communities is paved with education. Our mission is to power careers — for everyone — through tech education. And, we pledge to increase educational and professional opportunities for underrepresented communities.
With that said, we’re proud to announce that we’re accepting applications for our Pledge to Equality Scholarship Program.
The scholarship program is designed to increase educational and professional opportunities for underrepresented communities — starting with the Black community.
To honor our pledge to increase diversity in the workplace — as well as within Udacity — we will award 1,000 scholarships to recipients to provide access to in-demand, practical skills that tech companies look for today.
Additionally, we will take the top five graduates and give them the opportunity to be eligible for our 2021 internship program.
Udacity Committed to Upskilling the Underrepresented
Starting on August 19, we will accept applications for the program. Learners have until September 17 to submit their applications.
After the scholarship recipients have been selected and notified of this opportunity, enrollment for the program will begin on October 6.
Scholarship recipients will be able to enroll in the Nanodegree program of their choice, and the students will receive support throughout the scholarship from Udacity’s robust student community and dedicated community managers.
The scholarship program will end in March of 2021, and the top five graduates will be eligible to participate in Udacity’s 2021 internship program. Also, high-performing students will receive Udacity’s career services support — interview guidance, career counseling — for one year.
Udacity’s Pledge to Increase Representation
The release of the scholarship comes at a time when the United States is still grappling with systemic racism, especially in the Black community.
Systematic racism is insidious and creates disparities for minorities that can adversely impact their ability to build wealth, obtain access to quality healthcare, own a home, get a job, or be paid fairly.
What’s more, this issue forced the tech industry to look inward and reflect on the continued lack of representation that persists in this field.
Underrepresentation of African-Americans in core information-technology occupations in the U.S. continue to plague high tech companies more than any other section. As of 2019, African- Americans make up, on average, 9% of the jobs in STEM. The LatinX community makes up 7% of roles in STEM.
With the Pledge to Equality Scholarship, our goal is to increase representation by providing scholarship recipients with the in-demand skills that will create a pipeline of qualified candidates in desirable fields including, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Machine Learning, Digital Marketing, and more.
“At Udacity, we strive to do more than pay lip service to the ideals of equality and justice. With this scholarship, and hopefully having the grads work with us as interns, our goal is to make an impact and ensure that we are improving representation in tech — starting with our own company,” said Gabe Dalporto, CEO of Udacity.
Make Your Mark With This Scholarship Opportunity
We are proud to support all learners and hope that our scholarship paves the way to a career in tech for minority communities.
To apply for the Pledge to Equality Program and to get more information, please visit our application page.
As mentioned before, the application window will close on September 17, so don’t miss your chance to get upskilled in the careers of the future today.
