QA and Stemettes run free agile academy with certification to boost young women's entry into STEM careers

Following a successful pilot in October 2019, QA and award-winning social enterprise Stemettes hosted their second free STEM Certification Academy for young women last week. QA ran a two-day ICAgile course, resulting in Agile certification for the girls taking part – a fantastic qualification and skillset to have in the STEM industry. This time, QA and Stemettes were also joined by financial firm Schroders, who connected the young women to Agile professionals working in their technology department.

The Stemettes Certification Academy aims to empower young women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) through training and certifications. The goal is to increase the number of women working in STEM.

QA provided free facilities at our state-of-the-art training centre in International House in London, technology skills training from QA’s world-class trainers, and free certifications to 16 young women aged 14 to 23 who aspire to work in STEM industries. The two-day course covered agile project management – a core skill and working practice used across the sector. The course culminated in awarding the globally-recognised ICAgile qualification to the participants.

“I would just like to say thank you to Stemettes and QA for giving me such an amazing opportunity to have a professional qualification so early on in my career.” – Attendee

Paul Geddes, CEO of QA, comments:

“I’m thrilled to continue our partnership with Stemettes. Volunteering QA’s resources to inspire more women to take advantage of the vast opportunities in tech careers, and provide widely demanded certifications to empower access to these, is hugely rewarding. Working together we can move towards our joint goal of more diversity in the sector.”

To find out more about Stemettes, please visit the Stemettes website. If you’d like to get involved and fund the next Certification Academy event, please email academy@stemettes.org.

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Watch this video of the previous QA and Stemettes Certifcation Academy in October 2019. Latest video to come soon!