As we continue to celebrate Career and Technical Education Month in Michigan, the Michigan Works! Association is working to highlight innovative programs from across the state committed to hands-on training that can be applied to real-world, in-demand education and career pathways.
Last fall, Stiegler EdTech announced a national expansion effort with plans to begin offering training, upskilling, and career advancement for technology-related occupations in Detroit, after launching successful models in Charlotte, NC.
Ryan Hundt, CEO of the Michigan Works! Association, had a chance to connect with Stiegler EdTech founding partner and COO, Pasha Maher, as the organization plans for a spring launch of its cohort in Detroit.
Pasha, can you tell us more about Stiegler EdTech and the organization’s mission for upskilling undereducated and low-income adults?
Stiegler EdTech (SET) is a mission-driven organization that provides training, upskilling, and career advancement. We have announced a national expansion effort with new operations now active in Detroit. In partnership with local sponsors, including Ally Financial and others, the company plans to build on its successful 24-week program, providing necessary technology skills that are crucial for long-term employment.
The Career in Technology Apprenticeship Cohort (CTAC) is a 24-week workforce development program that pays adults $18+/hr to learn how to code and get a job in technology. CTAC focuses on alleviating the barriers that have traditionally impeded candidates from pursuing these opportunities on their own so that each candidate can realize their full potential. Participants receive a $17,500 stipend during training and are eligible to take advantage of wrap-around services such as child care, transportation, hardware, housing, food stability, and much more. Upon successful completion of the program, graduates are offered a predetermined full-time role at a pre-negotiated salary of $55k with one of our hiring partners. Detroit candidates can learn more and apply through this link before our Feb 12th deadline.
What drew your team to launching new initiatives in Detroit?
We are lucky enough to have a great partner in Ally. We've been working with them for four years in Charlotte and their leadership team has mentioned to us that we are their only reliable source of qualified, diverse tech talent. Being that their headquarters is in Detroit, they asked us if we would be willing to expand operations into Detroit and we were excited to do so.
The Career Technology Apprenticeship Cohort will be launching in Detroit in March 2023. What should people know about the CTAC?
I want them to know a few things:
This opportunity is real, and more specifically it is real for YOU. We have so many candidates who self-select themselves as "too stupid" or "too old" or "too behind" or a million other excuses as to why they believe they would not be able to participate in the program. Whatever your background is, whatever resource constraint has hindered you in the past--childcare, housing, transportation, you name it--the CTAC program is specifically designed to handle your unique needs and allow you an opportunity to pursue your potential.
Believe in yourself. Don't settle for the job you hate just because you are getting by. There are 159 graduates who have come through this program and built a better life for themselves and their families. These employers are excited to have you join their team, and our graduates are able to get promoted and grow in their careers just like a traditional four year computer science graduate.
There are no strings attached. We pay you. We do not ask for money back. Ever. The job is yours for as long as you want to be there, no minimum commitments or binding contracts. Our graduates really do make very competitive salaries. They work real jobs in technology. You will too.
This is a very, very challenging program. You will be tested and pushed to your limits. We have an infrastructure in place to support you, but ultimately YOU will be the one who does the work. Come in with the mindset that you are going to push yourself for 24 weeks and you will open doors to some of the best and most lucrative career opportunities in the world.
About 80 percent of CTAC participants are people of color, many of whom are earning around $20,000 annually prior to joining the program. How much of an impact do these upskilling opportunities have on upward economic mobility, particularly for historically underrepresented populations?
The City of Charlotte actually did an independent third-party analysis on this exact question and their findings were that they estimated our upward mobility impact in the previous five years is roughly estimated at $26.4M. For context, if you take just the stipends that we have paid out to candidates over the course of their 24-weeks of training with us, we paid $2.5M in wages directly to candidates. Thus, if you add in their compensation after graduating, the catapult in socio-economic status quickly accelerates and becomes a bit staggering to comprehend.
Not only does Stiegler EdTech offer programs for adult participants, but there are also shorter programs for youth. Can you tell us more about these initiatives?
We had built out all of this expertise with the work we had done with adults in the CTAC program and the question became how can we distill this expertise in a meaningful way to make an even bigger impact in preparing the future of our workforce. A few sobering thoughts:
Only 61% of public high schools in NC offer courses in coding or Computer Science (CS). Even the 61% number is a bit generous considering these schools typically only have one AP CS course offered to 30-50 students per year. Thus, the actual percentage of students who attend a public high school who can realistically expect to receive some instruction focused on helping them understand critical technology skills is much lower than we would hope.
The Department of Labor suggests that by 2040 roughly 70% of all jobs will require some level of coding. Thus, we must ask ourselves if our high schools are truly preparing our young adults for future career success.
Studies show that young women who leave high school without any coding experience are 10x less likely to pursue STEM or coding when they attend university. Black and latino populations are 7x less likely.
Not to be too extreme, but those thoughts can be really troubling for a parent who is hoping to give their child any chance at an opportunity towards a career. Thus, through the Youth Technology Apprenticeship Cohort (YTAC) we allow young adults the opportunity to gain exposure to critical STEM skills in an engaging, immersive way. Students are given the opportunity to take stackable 15-20 hour modules where they complete projects, compete with their peers, and win prizes and rewards. We are working with the state of North Carolina to provide dual enrollment credit for the coursework so that students receive both high school and university credit for completing multiple modules and pathways.
To learn more about Stiegler EdTech, including the upcoming CTAC Cohort, please visit https://stiegleredtech.org/.