Google Creates Howard University West to Teach Black Students Coding
It’s no secret that Silicon Valley has a diversity problem. Google, one of Silicon Valley’s leading tech giants, has initiated a plan to recruit black and Latino engineers from historically black colleges and universities.
According to USA Today, Google is opening a tech hub called “Howard West,” on its campus in Mountain View, Calif. Students at Howard University in Washington, D.C., will be able to attend and learn about coding and tech culture.
The summer curriculum consists of 12 weeks of instructive teaching from Google’s top engineers. The tech giant hopes to get 25-30 juniors and seniors enrolled in computer science to join the program this summer. Students will not have to pay extra tuition to participate in the program.
Google's long-term goal is to expand the program to include other HBCUs, said Bonita Stewart, Google's vice president of global partnerships, who has been working with Howard University President Dr. Wayne Frederick to develop the program.
"For us, it is an opportunity to ensure that we are building a pipeline and more importantly, stimulating the right partnerships to drive change," Stewart explained.
"I would like to see more Howard students and ultimately historically black colleges and universities students and underrepresented minorities being hired in the tech industry and participating in more start-ups," added Frederick.
This a revolutionary project for Google and hopefully this encourages other tech companies to value diversity in the workforce.