The UK’s intelligence services have partnered with a new scheme aiming to help black women return to the tech industry after a career break.
Non-profit organisation Coding Black Females - the UK’s largest network of black female software developers - has launched a new training bootcamp with spy agency GCHQ.
The 30-week ‘returnship’ will be open to black women or gender minority tech workers with previous hands-on experience of coding looking to return to the sector after one to seven years out.
The scheme, which will start in September, is designed to provide participants, who may have taken time out for parental leave or caring responsibilities, with opportunities to refresh their skills and reignite their careers.
The virtual training course will cover modern software development practices, cloud architecture and technical leadership, with industry certifications awarded with successful completion of each unit.
Successful applicants will be invited to apply for a senior software engineer role at GCHQ, with the position subject to successful completion of the Cheltenham-based organisation’s recruitment process and security clearances.
Since launched in 2017, Coding Black Females has designed more than 10 mentoring, recruitment and training programmes and gained 6,500 members with a wider global audience of more than 25,000.
The group has secured partnerships and sponsorships from international organisations such as toy brand Lego, tech giant Google, Lloyds bank and food ordering platform Deliveroo.
The organisation said: “Research suggests that only 19% of the tech workforce are women. This figure is even less for black women, just 1%, and we're keen to see this increase.
“The underrepresentation of black women in tech will always be one of our biggest motivations. At Coding Black Females we want to be able to meet every black woman, in all stages of their journey, at the point of their need.”
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