From TP Insights:

Why Focus on K-12?

Individual small programs may not solve the issue that the tech workforce is overwhelmingly male and white, but Philadelphia is on the right track by looking at the ecosystem holistically.

Jumoke Dada, a technologist based in Philadelphia who works as the project manager for Making Space, a cybersecurity diversity initiative, told The Plug educators also need to receive education on STEM instruction.

“We are facing a crisis, but we know how to begin fixing it. We have the tools. Our policy needs to build inclusivity from the start and that’s why it’s incredibly important to focus our efforts on building the pipeline, expanding K-12 education, and funding recruitment and retention,” Dada co-wrote in Ms. Magazine with Tatyana Bolton, the policy director for the R Street Institute’s cybersecurity and emerging threats program.

“We need to start early, make education on coding and technology accessible at all schools from an early age, and show through our actions, that careers in cyber are accessible to all,” they said.

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