Perspectives
Did you know Capital Region employers risk 60,000 digital tech jobs going unfilled annually through 2025 unless they expand how they source talent?
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Did you know Capital Region employers risk 60,000 digital tech jobs going unfilled annually through 2025 unless they expand how they source talent?
While the Capital Region boasts the third-largest economy in the United States, there is competition for talent and inequity in the education system that fuels the regional workforce. To address these challenges locally in DC, District of Columbia Public Schools’ (DCPS) ambitious 5-year strategic plan includes doubling the percent of college and career-ready students and tripling the percent of at-risk or students of color who are college and career-ready by 2022. DCPS has also prioritized expanding high-quality dual enrollment courses and internship opportunities tied to high demand/high wage careers. With this initiative, and those like it across the region, Capital CoLAB’s TalentReady partners are equipping the next generation workforce with the digital skills and competencies they will need to thrive in our region’s economy, while also ensuring that equity and inclusion are at the forefront of these efforts.
In Summer 2021, DCPS partnered with Trinity Washington University to provide a dual enrollment and internship program allowing students in DCPS IT Career and Technical Education pathways to build technical and professional skills while earning academic credit. Trinity Washington University hosted 38 students from seven DCPS high schools to participate in the Cybernetics Summer Immersion Program. These rising 11th and 12th-grade students met virtually for six weeks, Monday through Friday, to take Foundations of Cloud Computing (ITEC 105) or Introduction to Programming (CMSC 111) courses with a Trinity professor. During the last four weeks of the program, the students completed a related internship focused on cloud computing or Python. The Cloud Computing internship prepared students for the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Certified Cloud Practitioner exam. Students who received a grade of C or higher and are enrolling at Trinity after graduation will receive three college credits.
Students and administrators have been pleased with the program, which comprised nearly 85% of students of color and 40% of young women students. Timothy Williams, a student who completed the Python internship and Introduction to Programming course, says of the program, “I went into this course with confidence and some prior knowledge to coding in Python. I’m a quick learner when it comes to computers, but in this program, it’s been an eye-opener of how much more that I need to learn.”
Hope Witherspoon, Director of Dual Enrollment and Early College Programs at Trinity Washington University, says, “It has been awesome to see these students learn through inquiry and strengthen their problem-solving skills. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) is interconnected with so many different disciplines, and these students have a real advantage in pursuing in-demand careers in technology. At Trinity, we’re honored to partner with D.C. Public Schools to provide this great opportunity to expand students’ horizons.”
Participating DCPS high schools included:
DCPS and Trinity implemented the Cybernetics Summer Immersion Program as part of TalentReady, a Capital CoLAB initiative funded by JPMorgan Chase and Bloomberg Philanthropies. TalentReady brings together K-12 and higher education leaders from five jurisdictions—Baltimore City, MD; Fairfax County, VA; Montgomery County, MD; Prince George’s County, MD; and the District of Columbia—to partner with each other and employers on designing pathways that connect high school curricula, postsecondary degrees, certifications, and real-world work experiences to in-demand IT careers.
With a footprint spanning Baltimore to Richmond, CoLAB’s mission is to build the Capital Region’s diverse digital tech ecosystem by partnering with employers and educators to construct industry-aligned digital tech pathways that ensure inclusive growth. “CoLAB recognizes that ‘diverse’ is a broad term that encompasses both distinct and intersectional communities that have been historically underrepresented in tech. Developing the region’s diverse digital tech workforce requires a multi-pronged strategy that improves linkages between education and employment,” said Robert Owens, CoLAB’s Director of Workforce Initiatives. This emphasis on connecting education and employment is critical: while the Capital Region is one of the nation’s leading tech employment hubs, regional employers risk 60,000 digital tech and tech adjacent jobs going unfilled annually through 2025 unless they expand how they source and develop talent.
“CoLAB and its partners recognize that achieving equitable outcomes requires strategic investment in underserved populations while designing solutions that scale and adapt to the changing technology landscape,” said Jeanne Contardo, Vice President and Managing Director, Capital CoLAB. “The Cybernetics Summer Immersion Program is an exciting example of how we can think about meeting industry demand while ensuring students win in the process. We are thrilled to support educators through TalentReady as they continue collaborating across sectors and jurisdictional boundaries to build the most diverse digital tech workforce in the country.”
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Capital CoLAB’s TalentReady initiative is funded by:
