May 21 2021 03:22 PM - edited May 21 2021 03:22 PM
“I have been out of a career since the pandemic, but I started taking some classes and self-teaching myself about data science and I have come to love it, as it has always been a dream of mine to go into IT but didn’t have the support when I was younger. Learning Cloud will put me back in the market of IT job seeking, and maybe I would land my dream job.”
These are words from a brave woman, talking about the program that may help her transform not only her career, but her life.
In April, we announced we are teaming up with Coursera on new Azure Specializations and Scholarships. Today, we are excited to share that Azure AI Fundamentals and Azure Data Fundamentals are now live on Coursera and included in the Women In Cloud scholarship program. This initiative offers 625 scholarships to all three specializations and the respective certification exam vouchers at no cost.
One in four women have considered downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce due to Coronavirus. With nearly 150 million new tech jobs expected to come in the next five years in fields like cyber security, software development and machine learning, we cannot afford to not have women in these jobs. Instead, we want to enable women to learn new skills and be ready for these opportunities.
“Digital skilling is becoming a critical necessity in today’s world and women are struggling to get access to career building education. That’s why we are excited to partner with Microsoft and Coursera on this special initiative,” said Women in Cloud President Chaitra Vedullapalli.
Two additional specializations available now
Microsoft Azure DP-900 Data Fundamentals Exam Prep Specialization: In this new Specialization, students can learn the core database concepts in a cloud environment. Students build foundational knowledge of cloud data services within Microsoft Azure, and prepare for the Exam DP-900: Azure Data Fundamentals.
Microsoft Azure AI-900 AI Fundamentals Exam Prep Specialization: In this new Specialization from Microsoft, students gain foundational knowledge about core AI concepts and become familiar with services in Microsoft Azure that can be used to create AI solutions. Students learn how to implement common machine learning and AI workloads on Azure and prepare for the Exam AI-900: Azure AI Fundamentals.
What to expect from this Azure skilling program?
Applicants who are accepted into this program will enroll in and complete the three Azure digital skilling Specializations via the Coursera platform: Azure Fundamentals, AI Fundamentals and Data Fundamentals. What’s more, scholars who complete these trainings will also receive a certification voucher for each Specialization to take the respective exams for free. With all three Azure Fundamental specializations now accessible, scholarship recipients can gain a strong foundation of the cloud skills needed for in-demand tech jobs.
We all at Microsoft, Coursera, and Women in Cloud are fully invested in this initiative. Kim Akers, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Worldwide Learning said it better: “At Microsoft, our mission is to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more. To make this happen, we need to ensure everyone has access to the education and skills they need to be successful—this includes expanding ways and places to learn.”
Help us spread the word on this great initiative, so more women get access to it. Go to aka.ms/AzureFundamentalsScholarships.
May 21 2021 03:28 PM
May 21 2021 05:37 PM
May 22 2021 10:10 AM - edited May 22 2021 05:51 PM
Great initiative but I wish we come out of this gender division and treat everyone equally.
I personally don't understand how do we resolve this inequality but creating further divisions in IT by creating sections for Womens in IT, Blacks in IT (https://www.blacksintechnology.net/) etc. This will create a huge mess in IT space. I hope we go for equality or either start something similar for very gender or color if that's the case.