Students with an interest in the tech industry will have more opportunities to learn about, identify and attain a career thanks to an experiential learning program starting next summer.
The five-week offering — a collaboration with the career exploration company Possible — will be available to 20 rising juniors in the Kenyon Educational Enrichment Program (KEEP) and STEM Scholar Program next summer as part of a pilot program.
Students will learn in live, virtual sessions with recruiters, hiring managers, founders and individual contributors from companies such as Microsoft, Meta, Square, Etsy and Modern Treasury.
The curriculum, crafted to supplement the job resources provided by the Career Development Office, will allow students who are chosen through a nomination process to interact with industry professionals. They will learn through a mix of networking sessions, hands-on projects, workshops, panels and events.
“These are all things that we would help students do every day, but this is a very concentrated version that if a student wanted to do by themselves, it would be a ton of work,” said Lee Schott, dean for career development. “This makes it really streamlined and efficient.”
Sessions, which are free to students and available wherever they may be, will take place in the evening so as to not conflict with summer internships and other work opportunities.
The summer program is part of a larger collaboration between Possible, Kenyon and five other institutions within the Great Lakes College Association (GLCA). The other partners in the program, which will serve a cohort of 50 total students, are Allegheny College, Denison University, Earlham College, Oberlin College and Wabash College.
Lynn Hampton, director of diversity, equity and inclusion, said the partnership offers a unique opportunity for KEEP and STEM students to network while they are still in college.
“One of the goals of our Catalyst programs is to create mentoring opportunities and experiences that will set students up for professional success,” she said. “This brilliant and innovative collaboration between Possible and GLCA does just that — by building networks for our students that enhance their access to social and cultural capital.”
GLCA President Mickey McDonald described the collaboration as a prime example of how a consortium can support the success of members and their students.
“Preparing our students for a successful career launch is an essential part of what all our GLCA institutions do,” McDonald said.
David Chase, CEO of Possible and a former product marketing manager at Microsoft, said participants will benefit in a variety of important ways.
“Not only will their students get an opportunity to network and gain insight from top industry professionals, but they will also be networking with peers at other GLCA schools,” he said.
Schott said he is excited about the chance to expose students to new — and growing — fields, which could include everything from marketing to operations to product management in the tech sector.
“There’s a lot of opportunity in tech,” he said. “We want our students to know what’s out there and to be able to pursue these opportunities successfully — and also to understand that the liberal arts education they receive at Kenyon makes them a perfect fit for so many of these jobs.”