Women pursuing STEM education have access to a diverse range of financial aid.
Engineering still has a long way to go to increase diversity in the field. As of 2019, only 13 percent of engineers were women. However, the good news is that the percentage of females interested in pursuing a STEM degree has continued to steadily rise. More and more female freshmen are reporting that they intend to pursue a STEM degree. In time, and with support, we can close the gender gap in the profession. One pathway that helps young women to pursue their dreams in STEM is through scholarships dedicated to supporting female engineers and scientists.
Increasing the number of women in the engineering and other STEM professions requires more women with the credentials needed to enter the field. According to Rachel Morford, the president of the Society of Women Engineers, increasing women’s access to higher education is one of the best strategies to narrow the gender gap in STEM careers.
However, for many students a significant barrier towards attaining a degree is the cost of a university education. Scholarships help lower this barrier and create opportunities for a more diverse range of students to pursue a STEM degree.
“Scholarships help start that positive trend by helping to fund a woman’s access to undergraduate, post-graduate and doctoral STEM programs. Scholarships are also vital to help ensure success in those programs, as they give students more opportunity to focus on their classwork, design projects and pursue research or internship opportunities—all of which work to help keep women in STEM fields through graduation and beyond,” Morford explained in an interview with CNBC.
The potential positive effects of STEM scholarships have been studied for some time. For instance, a study at the Texas Women’s University found that students with scholarships had higher levels of academic achievement than their peers without this support.
The researchers also found that students with scholarships were more likely to complete their degrees than those without that support. Most STEM majors have a high first year drop out rate. It is believed that some students might be unprepared for the level of rigor in such courses. Yet, researchers found that 97 percent of students that received funding persisted and finished their degree; in comparison, this completion rate is typically between 40-57 percent.
It is clear that scholarships are a valuable tool to support students to complete their degree. Ensuring scholarships are available to students that are less represented in STEM will help increase diversity in the field. As such, many organizations and companies have created scholarships specifically to attract future female engineers and support female engineers to advance their careers. In time, this work will help to continue to narrow the gender gap.
Scholarships Available for Women Pursuing Engineering
There are many scholarships available, and more being created every day. Below, we highlight a few of the current available scholarships that are geared toward women in STEM.
Amelia Earhart Fellowship
The Amelia Earhart Fellowship is offered by Zonta International, an organization devoted to empowering women worldwide. The fellowship was established in 1938 to honor Amelia Earhart, who was a member of Zonta. The scholarship awards $10,000 to up to 35 women pursuing a Ph.D. or other doctoral degree in aerospace engineering and space sciences.
Currently, the aerospace industry workforce is only comprised of around 25 percent women. This scholarship aims to reduce this gap. To date, Zonta has awarded 1,674 Amelia Earhart Fellowships to 1,245 women from 75 countries.
The scholarship is open to women of any nationality. To be eligible for this scholarship, a women must be registered in a full-time doctoral program and have either completed one year of the program, or already hold a master’s degree in an aerospace-applied field. Applicants are selected based on academic performance, and a record of research in the field. Women who are related to members of Zonta are excluded from consideration.
The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Scholarships
The SWE works hard towards ensuring that women engineers have a place and a voice within the industry. Towards this goal, they offer multiple scholarships to those that identify as women and are pursuing an ABET-accredited bachelor or graduate degree. In 2020, the SWE offered 255 scholarships and over the past 5 years, they have awarded more than 1,100 scholarships totaling more than $4 million.
Given the extensive number of scholarships SWE offers, they have streamlined their application process. Applicants need only to make one application to be considered for all the scholarships that they qualify for. The basic eligibility is to be a person who identifies as a female, studying engineering full-time (with exceptions for re-entry/non-traditional students) and be enrolled in an ABET-accredited program.
Women at Microsoft Scholarship
As more industry leaders begin to acknowledge the importance of diversity and representation in the development of technologies, we are seeing companies create scholarship opportunities.
Microsoft, for example, has created the Women at Microsoft Scholarship for female and non-binary high school students that wish to pursue a degree in STEAM. The scholarship targets students who are interested in technology and have a high GPA, but who require financial assistance to attend a 2- or 4-year university, college or technical college. Three scholarships are awarded each year. Recipients receive $5,000 with the possibility to renew the scholarship for up to four years. An additional 10 students will be selected for one-time $2,500 stipends.
Generation Google Scholarship
Similarly, Google offers several Generation Google Scholarship, each focusing on a different geographic region. Women are strongly encouraged to apply, but anyone that exemplifies “leadership and demonstrate[s] passion for improving representation of underrepresented groups in computer science and technology” is eligible. Students must intend on enrolling in a full-time undergraduate or graduate computer science or engineering course, have a strong record of academic achievement and demonstrate financial need. The North American scholarship awards American students $10,000 USD, while Canadian students are awarded $5,000 CAD.
The Science Ambassador Scholarship
A surprising industry scholarship is the one funded by Cards Against Humanity. Cards Against Humanity is an adult card game that is largely known for its politically incorrect humor. The company funds the Science Ambassador Scholarship, which is a full-tuition scholarship for women in STEM. The application process is somewhat unconventional: those interested in applying must create a three-minute educational video on a STEM topic.
IEEE Women of Engineering (WIE) 2U Scholarship
Not all scholarships are limited to women entering the engineering field at the start of their education. IEEE WIE offers a continuing education scholarship to their members. Women that have been a member of IEEE WIE for 12 months or more can apply for the 2U scholarship, which offers up to $10,000 of tuition benefits for select master programs. Those interested are encouraged to contact the organization to learn more.
The scholarships here are just a selection of opportunities what are available to young women interested in pursuing engineering. If you would like to learn more about the scholarships that are available, the website EngineerGirl has created a detailed list of available scholarships. The list includes general scholarship opportunities and scholarships that focus on underrepresented groups.
Students interested in scholarship opportunities are encouraged to begin researching opportunities early. Many scholarships have involved application processes that may take time to complete.
Mae Jemison, the first African American woman astronaut in space, once said, “don’t let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity or your curiosity. It’s your place in the world; it’s your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live.” Scholarships can make the difference between possible and impossible for some students; this passion must be supported.
Scholarships play a vital role in helping the industry become diverse and add missing talent streams—and we should not let the cost of STEM education hold women back from contributing to the field of engineering.
