As part of my coursework for the MEITE program at UNC, we were tasked with defining a problem within Education that we want to solve and the people that are affected by this problem.
The Problem
The workforce is demanding tech skills for the tech industry and the workforce as a whole; however, there is not enough people with the skills to meet this demand. Additionally, minorities are underrepresented in the tech industry due to various factors. In my Ideate and Prototype posts, I go into more detail on a Theory of Change model for this issue, but the short of it is this: K-12 Computer Science education in the U.S. is not where it needs to be in order to fill the workforce demand. While there has been a lot of progress, much of it was halted due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Fortunately, many organizations and state leaders have identified K-12 CS Education Policy a national imperative and are actively working create the resources and foundations required to create strong standards that will hopefully meet the workforce need in equitable and inclusive ways.
The People
Here are some sample personas I created for some of the people affected by this issue. This is not a comprehensive list, rather a sample of some of the people affected.
