At the start of July 2020, the Guardian partnered with Coding Black Females, an organisation which aims to provide opportunities, networks and support for black female developers.
The Guardian’s Diversity & Inclusivity group arranged for volunteers from the Guardian’s Product and Engineering team to pair up with members of Coding Black Females on coding challenges, such as code katas and tech tests.
The scheme allows members of Coding Black Females to gain skills in common technical challenges, while enabling the developers to develop their leadership and mentoring skills.
Following the launch, 15 mentees joined our Product and Engineering department virtually. The course has now been running for four months and we’re receiving some great feedback from both mentors and mentees.
Why we’re doing it
It is well-known that diversity in tech needs improving. Wise (Women in Science and Engineering) says that 24% of the people working in Stem roles in the UK are female, while PwC UK states that just 5% of leadership positions in the technology industry are held by women, and only 3% of females say a career in technology is their first choice.
The tech industry lacks representation both in gender and race, and we believe it is important to do what we can to help under-represented and marginalised groups break into the industry and play an equal part in how we build software.
The programme allows mentees to gain confidence and develop their skills through:
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Exposure to working with professional engineers at an organisation with a significant technical focus
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Working collaboratively on coding problems
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Receiving guidance on all aspects of life as a software engineer in the workplace
Testimonials
We have gathered some feedback from our mentors and mentees about their experiences.
Mary (mentee)
The mentor programme has been amazing. The experience has boosted my confidence and knowledge in areas I found difficult, particularly programming logic.
Bybreen (mentee)
I’m really enjoying my sessions with Jonny. I shared my vision with him about what I want to achieve and he is helping me fulfil it. I have a non-linear learning style and Jonny structures his guidance to accommodate this. This leads to me having an engaging learning experience. My journey of blending theory and practice is coming together nicely. I can see how I’m growing in the right direction and that’s meaningful to me.
Overall, Jonny and I share a nice vibe. He’s a great ambassador for himself and the Guardian. He’s got it going on!
Jonny (mentor)
I’ve been really enjoying our weekly 1-1s. My mentee has achieved so much in so many different walks of life. Each week I learn something new from her. The experience has been enriching and meaningful, and it’s been great to see Bybreen progress over the last few months.
Faith (mentee)
The Coding Black Females mentorship scheme has been invaluable. I joined the scheme hoping to get more insight into the thought process of senior developers and how technical decisions are made.
I’ve met my mentor on a weekly basis; he’s always been on hand to answer any questions I’ve had between sessions. I was given the freedom and safety to ask questions and the experience has confirmed that my thinking process is (mostly) in line with a much more senior developer.
I have also been able to brush up on computer science fundamentals that I had previously missed, given that I am a career changer without prior tech experience.
This mentorship scheme has been really valuable, particularly during lockdown. I’m sure I will reap the benefits of the time I’ve spent on it for many years to come.
Anna (mentor)
Good sessions, good talks. It’s great to take the time to explain concepts one-to-one – this is often the sort of thing that’s hard to understand from a tutorial. We are making progress while also keeping it fun and interesting.
From my perspective, it’s always good to have to explain things (it makes you think about them more) and also seeing the industry from the perspective of a black woman. Sadly that experience is not great, which makes me think of other ways that need to be changed or counteracted.