Nokia has announced that it’s partnering with Udacity and the Blacks in Technology (BIT) Foundation to offer 300 scholarships to those from under-represented communities so they can take part in Nanodegree programs that can be completed alongside further studies or full-time work with the aim of diversifying STEM industries.
The Nanodegree programs are provided by Udacity and take place entirely online making them more accessible. Applicants can enter from anywhere in the world and it doesn’t matter whether they’re students or industry professionals. With the fully-funded scholarships, successful applicants will cover a range of topics including cloud computing, programming, artificial intelligence, and data science from introductory to advanced levels.
The successful applicants can choose a wide range of courses such as AI Programming with Python, Java Programming, Data Structures and Algorithms, Intermediate Python, and Cloud DevOps Engineering. In addition to Udacity courses, successful entrants will have access to support and networking from the BIT Foundation which includes mentorship, tutoring, and post-completion career support.
Commenting on the programme, Karoliina Loikkanen, Global Head of Sustainability at Nokia, said:
“We are committed to creating technology that helps the world act together, but to do so, the technology industry must reflect the world around us. This initiative further expands our activities to drive greater inclusion and diversity through concrete actions that provide opportunities to underrepresented communities and individuals, irrespective of background or ethnicity. Education forms a key part of this. Diverse businesses are shown to perform better, and we intend to encourage students who successfully complete one of the programs to apply for positions within Nokia.”
Applications for the scholarships are now open, head over to Nokia’s website to learn more. If you are unsuccessful in obtaining a scholarship from Nokia but are passionate about getting into a STEM field, freeCodeCamp is a free option that has lots of different courses to work through from web development to machine learning. While it won’t have an extensive support and networking scheme as this offer from Nokia, it does have a forum where you can get lots of useful advice from people who have completed the freeCodeCamp courses and gone on to get a job in STEM.