Equipping the Next Generation for Success: Graduate Advice from UKBlackTech Founder Mark Martin MBE

Mark Martin, founder of Urban Teacher & UKBlackTech shares why he feels diversity is important in the technology industry, his journey from being a teacher to being a founder of two companies as well as how he is equipping the next generation with technology skills.Mark works with industry, including Google, Microsoft, Apple and Adobe, and the education sector, including the University of Hertfordshire and South Bank Engineering UTC.Mark started off as a teacher, teaching young children how to use desktop skills. After realising that there was a disconnect between what was being taught and what the industry wanted, Mark went out to invite tech start-ups into schools to try and bridge this gap.In this episode, Mark Martin joins Work in Fintech founder Matthew Cheung and founder member Daniel Taiwo to unpack the important skills needed to break into the technology industry as well as many more topics.For more episodes like this please visit www.workinfintech.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.(1:08) - Mark Martin's Journey (4:16) - Why Mark founded UK Black Tech (6:14) - Why diversity is important in the technology industry (8:14) - What needs to be done to drive diversity within the UK (10:27) - Tech skills being taught within schools (13:01) - How COVID has affected teaching (15:33) - Future of Edtech (17:20) - How students/employees can deal with sitting in front of the screen for long periods of time(19:16) - Convincing a student without a technology background to take up computer science (21:44) - How Mark Martin developed relationships with big companies (24:22) - Important skills needed to break into technology Check out our website and subscribe to our mailing list to hear more about opportunities in fintech and web3.Follow our socials Linkedin, Twitter, Youtubehttps://workinfintech.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/work-in-fintech-globalhttps://www.twitter.com/workinfintechhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdS4bYoCXaHVgfVm6syUrDw