MANOR, Texas — While many may recognize Austin as a driving force in the tech world and a leader in innovation, Matthew Stephenson saw a problem: not enough local talent are filling those job positions, offices and labs.
Two years ago Stephenson and his wife founded Code2College as a way to change this. The program, which has a special focus on serving minority and low-income groups, encourages area high school students interested in STEM careers to get a head start in their professions.
"Fifty percent of female and low-income, two-thirds of Hispanic and almost 75 percent of black undergraduate students, who initially select a STEM major in college, ultimately leave by either switching to a liberal arts degree or dropping out completely," Stephenson said.
"We see all of these underserved communities here in Central Texas, yet we're a major tech hub. And so, there's this tremendous opportunity to bring these two groups together to both meet the needs of the technical workforce, but also the needs of students who typically lack access to pursue these careers."
Currently, Code2College is offered in four different area independent school districts: Austin, Manor, Pflugerville and Del Valle.
The program holds sessions after school for interested students. There, they have the chance to meet with professional mentors, learn how to build their resumes, and interview for both technical and adaptive roles.
This fall the program is aiming to serve 250 students. The top 20 percent of performing students will have an opportunity to land paid summer internships with companies in Austin such as Google, General Motors, Kendra Scott, Indeed, RetailMeNot, Favor, UT Dell Medical School, Alamo Draft house, T3 and more.
"We're excited about the enthusiasm we've seen throughout Central Texas to hire our students and looking forward to bringing on even more partners," said Stephenson, who also shared it's more than just the students who are reaping the benefits. "The parents are absolutely in love with it, especially those parents who have students who interned for companies that they had an opportunity to earn several thousand dollars over the summer."
Stephenson will be on campus at Manor Senior High School on Wednesday, Sept. 5 to meet with students about the program.
The deadline to enroll is Friday, Sept. 7 at 11:59 p.m. Parents and students can access the application by clicking here.
The first Code2College Session for the 2018-19 school year will be Monday, Sept. 24.