4 Ways the Grace Hopper Program Celebrates Community and Collaboration

When we founded the Grace Hopper Program in 2016, we knew we wanted to create an inclusive and safe space for women+-identifying students to learn software engineering skills while having the option to defer tuition until after they start working.

Since then, we have educated more than 660 students, both in-person and remotely, helping diversify the industry and make tech more accessible.

But our work’s not done.

In the 2019 State of JavaScript report, only 6% of the 19,409 survey respondents identified as female, showing us that breaking into tech is still difficult for women+-identifying people, with many facing imposter syndrome, stereotypes, and microaggressions.

Michele Cantos, Fullstack Academy’s NYC Managing Director says, “Imposter syndrome is rampant at coding bootcamps since students are typically quitting their jobs to make huge career pivots and learning software development in under five months. That is why having a supportive community is crucial to success.”

In these difficult times, now more than ever, we want to highlight and celebrate the community we’ve built at Grace Hopper over the past four years.

“At Grace Hopper, we watch students really lean into the built-in women+ community and watch them push their ego and pride aside to ask for help, collaborate, and bond over their common challenges,” Michele says. “For folks who feel like they're imposters because they're different than the ‘typical’ tech worker, it's crucial to have like-minded peers who support them.”

To give you a good idea of what the Grace Hopper community is like, we asked alums to share their experiences both in the classroom and beyond graduation via video. Keep scrolling to hear their stories.

1. Liz Gordon, 2020 alum

2. Crispina Muriel, 2019 alum

3. Madison Carr, 2019 alum

4. Sasha Havia, 2018 alum

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