codeX is an agile-first vocational coding programme in South Africa, with a mission to increase the talent pool that the software industry can draw from.
We focus on reaching groups who are under-represented in tech, provide them with a solid agile web developer skill set, then connect them with jobs where they can flourish. Diversity is what we live and breathe.
Now in our fourth year of operations, we have shaped our programme year-on- year, based on the needs and insights of all our customers (applicants, mentors, coaches and employers).
Covering stories of our graduates’ and employers’ experiences, this talk looks at what we have learnt about hiring and diversity, fundamental indicators of developer talent, and how we have worked with organizations to create environments that support team members from different socio-economic backgrounds.
Beyond gender and ethnicity filters, one of the greatest barriers to diversity lies in the infrastructure and environment differences between affluent communities and those in poverty, and the hidden biases of recruitment processes and performance measurements.
In this session I’m introducing the indicators we developed for accepting applicants that go well beyond academic filtering, and how we are helping companies review the profiling-type filters that their HR departments got stuck with, to find homes for developers who bring both agile thinking and diversity of perspective to their teams.
