We have a lack of diversity in technology. In my experience, the issue is a question of supply and not demand. When you get into specialities like Big Data, minority populations go from a small percentage to outliers. Of the thousands of students I’ve taught, less than ten have been African-American, less than ten have been Hispanic-American, and zero have been Native Americans. Having to say minorities are an outlier is really sad for me.

This massive disparity affects the Big Data community. My firm belief is that a team benefits from diversity. I think this diversity comes in various forms – from ethnicity all the way to socioeconomic backgrounds. There is a palpable difference in the teams with diversity compared with teams made up of a single ethnicity. Diverse teams don’t suffer the groupthink and single point of view other teams have had.

I reached out to one of my former students to give a perspective on getting into Big Data as minority population. Efunwande (Dami) Osoba was my student at Silicon Valley Data Academy. At the Academy she learned the skills to become a Data Scientist.

I want to do something about the lack of diversity. I have the online course that takes software engineers and makes them data engineers. This is the course that has taught my students the skills to get jobs at the top Big Data companies. It doesn’t just teach Big Data as a few technologies; it teaches how the technologies combine to form a data pipeline, how to extract value from that pipeline, and the tricks professional data engineers use to write the best code.

Today, I’m announcing a scholarship for my online data engineering courses. This is a 66% scholarship for African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and Native Americans. I hope that course will create the supply of data engineers that will take minorities from being outliers to mainstream.

FAQ

Who is the scholarship open to?

This scholarship is open to African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and Native Americans. You must live in the United States.

How much is the scholarship?

The scholarship is 66% off the price of the class at any tier. It can’t be combined with any other discount or offer.

Are you worried about this scholarship being abused?

This scholarship is on the honor system. I’m doing this because I genuinely want to help minorities get into Big Data.

If I find out that you’ve abused the scholarship, you will be kicked out of the program and no refunds will be given. You’ll also receive a permanent ban. Repaying good with evil is a terrible thing.

Steps to apply for the scholarship and become a Data Engineer

• You’ll need the recommended developer skills.
• You’ll need to sign up for my mailing list. My online course is only offered to people who have signed up for my mailing list.
• Fill out the form below and I’ll get back to you with a promo code for your scholarship. Use this promo code when you purchase the course.
• Make Big Data diverse.