San Francisco, CA, September 2023 - Announcing the continuation of the Beyond Inclusion Scholarship, an ambitious initiative aimed at leveling the playing field in the XR industry. We're joining forces with Jobs for the Future (JFF) and Unity in 2024. Our collective mission? Tear down any financial barrier and unlock doors for ambitious XR talent.
We're dedicated to supporting at least 150 future XR trailblazers each year. The XR Bootcamp pipeline nurtures raw talent and cultivates skilled professionals, offering our partner employers a highly skilled and diverse talent pool.
Aligned with our commitment to diversity and inclusion, we seek underrepresented talents to make their mark in the XR world. It’s not just about inclusivity; it's about reshaping the industry's future.
As Jessica Lindl, VP Education & Social Impact at Unity, puts it,
Now, more than ever, we have a responsibility to equip young people with the skills necessary for future jobs – providing them with learning that translates to earning.
Rahel Demant, Co-Founder of XR Bootcamp, breaks it down:
Having empowered hundreds of students to thrive in XR since 2020, we've cracked the code on success in the industry. We've fine-tuned a proven upskilling journey in partnership with award-winning XR studios. And now, our Beyond Inclusion program connects graduates with job opportunities and drives diversity and inclusion within hiring companies.
Many reports and studies show that high disparities still exist in the XR industry today. According to the latest PEC (Policy and Evidence Centre) report on the creative industries, “class-based inequalities are inextricably linked with gender, racial, disability and spatial disparities,” and earlier research by the PEC has shown how these factors interact to compound disadvantage. Specifically looking at the immersive sector in 2018, the quantitative analysis highlighted that only 14% of VR companies had female directors.
After successfully graduating XR Prototyping and Foundation course with the Beyond Inclusion scholarship, the alumni work in a variety of fields. Here are honest words from our graduates about the course in XR Bootcamp and how the Beyond Inclusion scholarship program helped launch and continue their careers in XR.
“I was excited for the opportunity to be a part of this cohort and just learn about how, at least as individuals, and then kind of, as we’re saying now at the end of our course, as a group. I can make an impact and create practical usable XR prototypes out of the visions that I have in my mind.” – Divine Ogbuefi; now, after graduation, he is working as a software engineer at Swing Education
“XR Bootcamp is the sort of oasis for VR and AR information. I didn’t have a fleshed-out coding degree and work experience, but I could still push through their easy-to-digest information, assignments, and video lessons. – Ahmed Eltayeb, now, after graduation, is working as an XR Developer & Doctor at Health Service Executive
“I can recommend everybody to take a course at XR Bootcamp because you get quickly hired for mentors in one-to-one sessions, for example, and excellent knowledge and some tips. Of course, if you would do it on your own, learning all the stuff, it will take much more time, so it’s a real time saver.” – Berenice Terwey; now, after graduation, she is successfully working as a freelance XR Prototyper, and Developer at AVK Terwey
“XR Bootcamp was beneficial because we started with the foundations and then we always built on top of it. First, we had weekly homework, and as long as I could complete that homework, my confidence gradually increased. In the second part, we did the prototypes. And as I saw that whatever I was imagining, I could transition it into a working prototype that was helping me. It’s a real boost in my career.” – Fatma Betül Güneş, now, after graduation, a PhD student in the ML4ED (Machine Learning for Education ) Lab
If you're an XR enthusiast, here's your opportunity to enhance your career. The partial to full scholarships offer a value of up to $8,000 per awardee.
If you’d like to support us and make this program able to expand globally and continue for many more years, you can always become an ambassador!
Our Beyond Inclusion Ambassadors help us share the message and information about the scholarship. Anyone is invited to join us as an official Beyond Inclusion ambassador. To thank you, we will announce you on our social media channels and website as a contributor.
Here are four of the many members who have already joined us as Beyond Inclusion ambassadors.
We thank our Ambassadors for their amazing support and for sharing the information about the Beyond Inclusion scholarship program.
If you want to become an ambassador, connect with us here!
For Media Inquiries:
Contact: Rahel Demant
Email: hello@xrbootcamp.com
Jobs for the Future (JFF) is a national nonprofit that drives the transformation of the U.S. education and workforce systems to achieve equitable economic advancement for all. The organization designs solutions and partners with employers, investors, and education and workforce development providers to transform education and workforce systems that are inequitable.
Unity is a cross-platform game engine used to create games as well as interactive simulations and other experiences in three-dimensional (3D) and two-dimensional (2D). The engine supports C# as a primary programming language and has been gradually extended to support a variety of desktop, mobile, console, and virtual reality platforms.
XR Bootcamp is a global online academy, offering skill-to-job beginner and advanced XR development courses. Curricula are developed and taught by award-winning VR, AR, and MR professionals. XR Bootcamp's cutting-edge courses are for designers, game developers, managers, and coders who want to learn how to prototype XR Applications and learn AR, VR, and MR development. XR Bootcamp further supports the XR Creators community with free and open access to knowledge, peer-to-peer learning, and networking opportunities. XR Bootcamp is proud that alumni leave outstanding reviews and work at companies like HP, Autodesk, Accenture, Samsung, Snap, Lockheed Martin, Harvard, USC, and Carnegie Mellon University.
