America’s Digital Skills Gap — And the Innovators Working to Close It

The United States is facing a quiet but consequential crisis: a shortage of digital skills across large parts of the population. As industries adopt automation and artificial intelligence at record pace, too many students are leaving school without the technical fluency needed to thrive in a modern economy.

A report from the National Skills Coalition (“Closing the Digital Skill Divide,” March 2023) found that nearly one-third of U.S. workers lack foundational digital skills, limiting access to better-paying jobs and slowing productivity across multiple sectors. The gap is most visible in K-12 education, where many schools still struggle to integrate technology meaningfully into teaching and learning.

Experts warn that without early, structured digital education, this gap will continue to widen. Yet a growing number of educators and entrepreneurs are working to reverse the trend. Among them is Oluwatoyin Kode, a Maryland-based innovator and co-founder of STEM Prep Tutoring, who is combining academic support with hands-on technology training to prepare students for the future.

Turning Concern into Action

Kode’s journey into education technology began after more than a decade of experience in banking, information systems, and higher education. Drawing on her technical background and ongoing doctoral research in Computer Science at Bowie State University, she recognized that many students lacked not only access to digital tools but also the confidence to use them creatively.

In 2020, she co-founded STEM Prep Tutoring, a hybrid tutoring and digital learning venture serving elementary through high-school students across Maryland. The program blends traditional academic instruction with practical digital training—covering topics such as coding, design, and data literacy.

Since its launch, STEM Prep has served more than 200 students, helping them improve standardized test scores, earn college scholarships, and build tangible technology skills. “We wanted to show that digital literacy is not just about using devices,” Kode explains. “It’s about critical thinking, problem-solving, and confidence in technology.”

Quantifying the Impact

The program’s results speak for themselves. Internal progress reports show that over 80 percent of enrolled students demonstrated measurable improvement in math and science performance after one semester, and many continued on to advanced technology courses.

Kode’s initiative has also provided employment and mentoring opportunities for local instructors with backgrounds in STEM fields—helping build a sustainable model that benefits both students and educators.

This innovative approach earned national recognition, including the Global Recognition Award in Education & Digital Literacy (2025), honoring her measurable contribution to expanding digital competence among young learners.

Academic and Professional Leadership

Beyond her work with STEM Prep, Kode serves as a Program Management Specialist at Bowie State University, where she helps coordinate research and entrepreneurship initiatives designed to give students practical innovation experience. She manages programs supported by Title III funding, guiding projects that teach research methods, design thinking, and venture development.

Her dual role as an academic and entrepreneur allows her to approach education from both a theoretical and practical perspective. She has published research on artificial intelligence, machine learning, and operating systems, linking her technical expertise with her commitment to modernizing education.

Kode’s professional training reinforces that blend of skills. She is a Project Management Professional (PMP) and CompTIA A+ certified, credentials that reflect her structured approach to building scalable programs and managing technology-driven initiatives.

Preparing Students for a Digital Economy

According to the U.S. Department of Education, careers requiring digital skills are growing twice as fast as those that do not. Yet, digital readiness remains uneven across regions and school systems. Leaders like Kode are helping close that gap by showing how community-based initiatives can complement formal schooling.

“Our students shouldn’t just consume technology—they should understand how it works and how to use it to solve problems,” Kode says. “That’s what real preparation for the digital economy looks like.”

Her work represents a broader shift in American education: one that recognizes that digital literacy is not merely a technical skill, but a foundation for opportunity, innovation, and participation in the modern world.

Through her combined efforts in academia and entrepreneurship, Oluwatoyin Kode is proving that with the right approach, the digital divide can become a bridge—to new skills, new confidence, and new possibilities for the next generation.

Author: Muhammed Soyer