Education

KCWiT Django Girls

KCWiT diversifying Kansas City’s tech workforce with new program

A Kansas City organization is working to update your mental picture that software programmers are guys hunched over a keyboard in a dark room speedily typing code. The change? Replace the man in the picture with a woman. Well, and the dark room — that’s not the most healthy environment for any programmer. With the…

Kansas City scores $50K to inject innovation into education

Kansas City recently snagged a $50,000 grant that aims to fuel the development of a passionate, 21st-century workforce. The City of Fountains was named one of eight winners of the national LRNG City Challenge. As a result, the KC Social Innovation Center will use the grant to implement new programming this summer. The LRNG platform…

Titans of Kansas City tech combine forces for talent creation

Kansas City isn’t unique in its high demand for talented techies. But perhaps what is setting the area apart is its collaborative approach to creating, recruiting and retaining tech talent in the Kansas City metro. Dozens of area tech companies engaged in a panel discussion Wednesday on practical steps that companies can take to win…

student skills gap

Students’ skills gap dings the 21st century workforce

Whether openly acknowledged or silently understood, there is a growing awareness in the education community that students are not prepared for the 21st century workforce. Millennials nearly triple the current national unemployment rate and more than half of 2015 college graduates have no — none, zilch, nada — career prospects on the foreseeable horizon.   …

Regional Roundup

Austin’s ‘hostile attitude’ toward innovation, startup hub trends

Here’s this week’s dish on lesson’s learned from Austin’s “hostile attitude” toward innovation, booming non-Silicon Valley startup hubs and what startups can do for the future workforce. Check out more in this series here. AustinInno: Austin just scared off 1 of its ‘biggest supporters’ in Silicon Valley The Austin, Texas City Council’s recent decision to…