Education Today Education Today Magazine
WISE and Jaguar Land Rover today open the 2015 Range Rover Evoque WISE Scholarship, aimed at young women planning a career in technology and engineering in the UK.
Launched in 2013 by Zara Phillips, the Scholarship is open to those embarking on or currently undertaking an engineering, maths or physics degree course or apprenticeship in the UK this year. The funding programme aims to boost female participation in these disciplines, with the winners receiving £1,000 per year for their studies (up to three years) and professional mentoring to support their path into engineering.
As in 2014, the scholarship programme has been expanded to create two separate awards – one for an undergraduate and the other for an apprentice.
Last year’s winner for the Apprentice Award was Ruby Holmes, currently working through her Advanced Technical apprenticeship at Rolls-Royce. She commented: “I felt honoured to be awarded the Range Rover Evoque WISE Scholarship in 2014 and it is great to see it open again for 2015, giving a helping hand to more young women like me. The programme provides fantastic support, both from a financial and mentorship viewpoint, and I am personally really excited to be working as an ambassador, encouraging more girls to choose amazing careers in the industry.”
Ruby’s mentor and WISE Young Women’s Board Member, Hannah Goodall, Senior Engineer [Switches & Crossings] for Network Rail comments: I’m really looking forward to regularly meeting with Ruby to discuss her career aspirations. Winning the Range Rover Evoque WISE scholarship so early into her career is such an achievement. I believe mentoring relationships have a positive impact on career development. I hope to be able to support and challenge Ruby, introduce new ideas and discuss positive steps Ruby can take going forward.”
Whilst the number of young women embarking on a technology or engineering course in the UK is on the rise, there are still significant challenges for the female engineers of the future. Chloe Pickford-Adams, who was delighted to be a winner of the Undergraduate scholarship in 2014, says: “I hope to dedicate time throughout my engineering career to an ambassadorial role in order to inspire others to explore a career in engineering”.
Currently women account for less than 10% of professional engineers in the UK and the Range Rover Evoque WISE Scholarship highlights Jaguar Land Rover’s commitment to increasing the number of female engineers in the UK.
Nicci Cook, Jaguar Land Rover Senior HR Manager Product Development, said: “Since the inaugural year we have seen some amazing winners come through the Scholarship, and we are delighted to be running the programme for a third year. Jaguar Land Rover is constantly striving to encourage more young women into the industry and through programmes such as the Range Rover Evoque WISE Scholarship we hope to maintain the UK’s reputation as a centre of excellence for engineering for a long time to come.”
The selection process will include an application form and interview. The closing date for applications is 28 July 2015. The winner will be announced in London at the prestigious Annual WISE Awards & conference on 12 November 2015. You can apply for the scholarship online here.
To continue its campaign to encourage more females into STEM, WISE is now offering FREE MEMBERSHIP to individuals.
