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TULSA – After eight years of college that cost her mother tens of thousands of dollars, Doren Laffein dropped out without completing his degree.
“We lost so much,” Laffein said. Although she was a minority woman with a high school diploma, she didn't have a clear path forward.
The idea of working in information technology was appealing to her, but she had no training or experience.
“I was trying to teach myself IT while working a lot of menial jobs,” LaPhayne said.
She found free technical training through Tulsa Community WorkAdvance. There, my instructor told me about the Boot Girl Camp offered by tech startup Girl Multiverse.
Multiverse helps people jump-start their careers by connecting them with paid entry-level business and technology apprenticeships that don't require a college degree.
Laffein applied and was selected to participate in the six-month intensive boot camp. She also received a scholarship that covered $20,000 in expenses. She completed her program in November and received a multiverse internship through Northwell Her Health.
“I cried when they gave me the job,” said Laffein, 31.
“We're trying to give people who don't have a four-year degree an opportunity to provide training to see how well they can do,” said Northwell Health Labor. said Brian Aquato, vice president of power and community education. A nonprofit integrated health care network.
Northwell Health is headquartered in New York City, but the apprenticeship program is based in Tulsa, bringing technical talent into the city's burgeoning technology scene and creating the next generation of data analysts and software engineers. Aquato said the purpose is to foster.
Northwell Health, one of the many companies Multiverse is expanding into Tulsa's technology footprint, is New York's largest private employer and health care provider.
Aquato said apprenticeships are the future of the health care industry, which is facing severe labor shortages, including for nurses and other direct care positions, as well as technical support roles.
The industry is undergoing a digital transformation with electronic health records. As data collection becomes more robust, the need for data analysis is increasing, he said.
Acquato said apprentices don't need a college degree, are paid a competitive salary and gain valuable experience working full-time with team members.
“The important thing is that they are supervised,” he says. “There is a great collaboration going on between the trainees, Northwell Health, and Multivias.”
Laffein said his job as a junior data analyst apprentice is more than just a job. This is a stepping stone to learning other technical skills. She is interested in coding and programming.
“I love the company I work for,” Laffein said, adding that she hopes Northwell Health will retain her after her apprenticeship ends.
She said she is learning career skills at a comfortable pace, in part because she is undergoing treatment for dyscalculia, a learning disability that was discovered just two years ago. People with dyscalculia struggle with numbers and math because their brains cannot process math-related concepts like the brains of people without the disorder.
LaFaine credits Tulsa Community Work Advance and Multiverse Boot Camp and practicum with lifting her from a “very low place.”
“I’m so grateful to them for giving me this opportunity,” she said. “They are very passionate about helping minorities.”
According to Multiverse, there are 128 million people in the U.S. workforce who stand to benefit from new on-the-job training opportunities. They are low-wage workers without a bachelor's degree, career starters without a bachelor's degree, underemployed college graduates, and mid-career workers without a bachelor's degree seeking opportunities to earn better wages.
Research shows that workers who have high turnover rates and are most likely to remain in low- or flat-wage jobs, or who are underemployed and lack career mobility, are disproportionately women. , Black, Hispanic, and workers without a degree.
