Perficient believes that the best companies are the ones that invest in the professional growth of every colleague while embracing each person’s individual backgrounds, voices, and perspectives. We also believe that diversity and inclusion are constant pursuits and that more can be done to create equitable opportunities throughout the technology industry.
Research shows that the number of women serving as computing professionals has experienced a long period of decline. Perficient is committed to focusing on advancing women in technology to facilitate STEM career growth, and building a technology community dedicated to supporting diversity.
To help achieve this, we recently launched a new community program called Perficient Bright Paths, a virtual education experience designed to advance STEM education and career opportunities for underrepresented constituencies and communities while helping to close the gap that exists in the technology industry, especially among women and minorities.
“There’s extensive documentation addressing the challenges faced by women and minority communities within the technology industry,” said Andrea Lampert, vice president of people and executive sponsor of Perficient’s Women in Tech ERG. “Yet, despite increased focus, employment figures remain stubbornly low. We wanted our first Bright Paths program to focus on women in technology to begin addressing our industry’s shortcomings in our own communities.”
READ MORE: About Perficient’s Women in Technology
Our People-First Approach to Career Growth
Our People Promise, and its supporting attributes – Growth for Everyone; Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging; Global Footprint with Genuine Connections; and Biggest Brands – express the commitment we make to our people and communities with hopes to foster an environment and culture that not only attracts but retains the most talented in our industry to build long and prosperous careers with us.
The first Bright Paths cohort launched in March in partnership with Strategic Education, Inc.‘s Hackbright Academy, an all-women’s coding bootcamp and software engineering program. The cohort consists of 22 women who are learning Python over a 14-week virtual course. Perficient’s goal is to extend a number of qualified cohort graduates a full-time job in the software engineering and development field, where they will partner with one of the world’s biggest brands in the Detroit metro region. Perficient is fully funding the Bright Paths training programs to provide opportunities to ambitious, deserving, and committed candidates who otherwise might be unable to pursue them.
BONUS: Learn about Perficient’s AI Bootcamp in Dallas, TX
Further Personalizing the Experience for Bright Paths Students
In addition to providing the customized coding bootcamp, the inaugural program also features “Perficient Thursdays,” offering the women a chance to learn about the consulting business and Perficient at large. Guest presenters have included many Perficient colleagues, even hosting the executive leadership team for an AMA.
“It’s important for the students to know the support we provide doesn’t end with just technical skills,” said Joel Stanesa, general manager, Detroit operations. “We want to get to know each student in the class, support them throughout their journey, and ensure they are ready to hit the ground running upon graduation.”
Joel Stanesa, general manager, (far left) celebrated winning Top Workplace in Detroit with fellow colleagues including a key figure in Bright Paths Program, Gugu Mabuza, director (far right)
“I’m so proud to be part of an organization that is prioritizing efforts to resolve inequalities too often found in our industry,” Andrea shared. “At Perficient, we often say we are champions of our people in their career growth. Now with Bright Paths, we can confidently and proudly say we are doing the same in our communities.”
BONUS: LPGA Golf Pro Morgan Pressel Meets with Perficient’s Women in Technology Group
At Perficient, we continually look for ways to champion and challenge our talented workforce with interesting projects for high-profile clients, encourage personal and professional growth through training and mentoring, and celebrate our people-oriented culture and the innovative ways they serve Perficient and the community.
Learn more about what it’s like to work at Perficient at our Careers page.
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