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Tech4Her STEM scholarship programme opens for entries

TU Dublin and UCD students to benefit from Huawei pilot programmes
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11 December 2020

Huawei has announced details of its new Tech4Her Scholarship Programme aimed at supporting female students studying STEM subjects.

Eleven scholarships are available for the 2020/21 academic year across Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) and University College Dublin (UCD). The scholarships are available at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

At TU Dublin, eight students will receive financial awards of €3,000, while two undergraduate students and one postgraduate student in UCD will receive financial support for the duration of their studies. Applications for the programme are now open.

Participating students will engage in a comprehensive applications process which includes a personal statement on their passion for STEM, future career hopes, and barriers faced as a woman in this field, as well as an interview with an esteemed university panel. Top-performing students will be awarded the scholarship, which will be provided for the current academic year.

In addition to financial support, Tech4Her also offers the opportunity to engage in a mentoring programme with representatives from Huawei. In a recent speech by Catherine Chen, President of the Public Affairs & Communications Department at Huawei, at this year’s The Good Summit, she emphasised the importance of female role models in the ICT industry in making the industry more equal and diverse.

The launch of the scholarship programme comes as the need to address the gender gap in STEM grows increasingly prevalent in Irish society. The recent 2020 Pfizer Health and Science Index indicated that 15% of men in Ireland work in STEM compared with just 7% of women.

Huawei said it is committed to empowering women by giving them more opportunities and helping them learn the skills needed to compete in the digital economy through programmes like Tech4Her and its Seeds For The Future programme which had a 35% female participation rate in 2020, an increase of 5% on last year’s intake.

“Closing the gender gap in STEM doesn’t only benefit women but leads to a more inclusive and healthy society,” said Tony Yangxu, CEO Huawei Ireland. “It is important that technology not only benefits a wider audience but is also designed and improved by a diverse group of talents. Without a female voice in its creation, technology will fail to serve the needs of both genders. Huawei Ireland supports and encourages female participation in STEM education as this is where the foundation is laid for successful STEM careers. The Tech4Her scholarship programme aims to empower today’s female students to become role models and leaders of tomorrow.”

Dr Deirdre Lillis, head of the school of computer science at TU Dublin said the programme is a “real incentive for female students to choose Computer Science. We have worked very hard to create interesting programmes and a learning environment that welcomes, supports and encourages female students. We have undertaken a number of specific initiatives, underpinned by a philosophy of equal opportunity, not special treatment, including connecting our students to role models through enterprise mentoring programmes.  The cracks are finally appearing in the silicon ceiling – we have had an increase of almost 30% in female students joining our three Computer Science programmes in 2020.”

 “TU Dublin has an ambition to achieve gender balance across areas which have traditionally skewed towards higher participation by male students,” said President of TU Dublin, Prof David FitzPatrick. “The TECH4HER scholarships are a wonderful vehicle to help us increase the proportion of female students studying Computer Science, in particular, and we look forward to meeting talented young women who have a real interest in this exciting field.” 

Applications for the ‘TECH4HER’ programme are now open. Students wishing to apply can find out more from TU Dublin and UCD’s websites.

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