Developers in Vogue

’’The labor market demands digital skills, workers who are not only fluent in other languages or their academic specialty but in the essential tools to deal with fluency in the technological age. We mean knowledge about electronic devices, networks, cyber security, and communications systems and data analysis, among other things. The technological revolution is creating new professions and workers need digital skills so as not to be left behind.’’ Whiles the revolutionary looks quite innovative and revolutionary from the outside, if you take a closer look, you see that a very important segment of society is underrepresented in shaping this tremendous social transformation: women. 

We work towards the cause of bridging the digital gender divide in Africa and beyond. 

Over the past three years we have trained over 2000 young women in digital skills. 

We provide employment through internship and job placement after the training, alongside life skills necessary to sustain them in the tech space. 

Funding from the elevate prize will be used to sustain the operations of the organization in order to continue to provide free digital skills training, employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for women and girls across Ghana. 

Reference: https://www.iberdrola.com/innovation/digital-skills#: 

Developers in vogue is  a non-profit organization in Ghana that is committed to bridging the digital gender divide, as such we create a community of African women who are passionate about using technology to revolutionize Africa and beyond. As a way to ensure a sense of belonging, we have a diversified staff who also belong to the focus group of the women we hope to reach with diversified skills and knowledge and a greater commitment to empowering women.  

Our goal as organization is to foster digital inclusion, promote gender equality in the tech space and ensure descent work and economic growth particularly for women.  

“The massive spread of digital technology is generating new opportunities for the economic development worldwide- but not everybody is reaping the benefits. Digital divide not only separate the global north and the south, but also men and women. Only one in three people who report profiting from new technology is a woman. Women hold just 24 percent of all jobs in the ICT industry around the world. Over 250 million fewer women than men are online today, denying them crucial access to information, education and participation. Today, it is more important than ever that women are empowered with the skills and make use of the immense opportunities that come with the access to digital technology, especially for situations such as the world has had to face due to the global pandemic. ‘’ 

To reduce the underrepresentation of women in the tech space, we provide training, mentorship, internship opportunities, job placement and business incubation for women in Ghana and Africa. Our training focus on in demand digital skills in the job market including web and mobile app development, artificial intelligince, digital marketing, data science and graphic design.  

References :women in tech, BMZ 2018 Publishing. 

Unlike the traditional method of acquiring theoretical knowledge and skills most students and individuals go through, we strive to provide practical knowledge and skills to ensure participants or beneficiaries of our training programs are well equipped for the job market. Trainees who want to undertake the entrepreneurial journey and contribute to employment and providing solutions to societal problems with technology are directed to build businesses with the knowledge they acquire. 

As a requirement for each training, participants identify issues within their localities that can be mitigated with the skills acquired and pitch to experts as part of their assessment and learning journey. We also connect our trainees with companies in the form of internships, free-lance and full-time job placements. We provide mentors to our trainees and guide them on their career path. We have a space that foster a sense of belonging for our women. 

Education is the first hurdle that women meet on their path to tech. Teachers and female students are having to push against the tide of gender stereotype ‘boys are better at science and math’. Against the odds, handfuls of young women make it to university to pursue STEM subjects. However, approximately only 26% of women who graduate go on to work in tech, compared to 40% of men due to the unwelcoming work culture in the tech industry towards females. Our mission at Developers in Vogue is to create a space where women can feel safe and have a sense of belonging while learning about technology and applying it to better their lives and the lives of others.  

Education and training in in-demand technological skills is one of the ways we work to change the status quo. Over 100 women have benefited in various job opportunities, whiles many more have set up businesses that seek to solve particular issues in their various localities. Our mission is to ensure women are given the privileges and opportunities that comes with technology as equally as their male counterparts.