Minority Women in STEM Bi-Annual Scholarship
From robotics, to computational biology and gene editing, to aerospace engineering, STEM fields are at the forefront of some of the most innovative advancements in our world today. STEM fields are high-paying, high-powered, and high-impact.
Unfortunately, not everyone gets the same opportunity to build careers in these fields.
In Computer Science, where the rate of job creation is 3x the national average, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that women will hold just 20% of computing jobs by 2025. This trend has gone in the wrong direction, as the number of women studying computer science has fallen steadily since the 80s. It’s no better for African Americans, American Indians/Alaska Natives, and Latinos, who constitute 30% of the US population but account for just 12.5% of STEM degrees.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that women will hold just 20% of computing jobs by 2025.
The representation problem extends to the wage gap as well. Men in tech are offered higher salaries for the same roles 63% of the time, with a difference in starting salary ranging as much as 45% higher for men. Minorities, meanwhile, will earn 81-85% as much as their colleagues in the STEM workforce, on average.
While there are many systemic factors contributing to this problem, it is clear that achieving greater diversity and a more representative workforce in STEM industries is critical.
As we see stunning new headlines such as studies showing racial bias against African Americans in healthcare algorithms and facial recognition error rates more than 40x worse for black women as light-skinned men, it has never been more important that we do more to support minority women in STEM to achieve their career goals.
That’s why we’ve created the Minority Women in STEM Bi-Annual Scholarship, which will award $3,000 every 6 months to women from backgrounds underrepresented in STEM industries.
The Minority Women in STEM Bi-Annual Scholarship will award $3,000 every 6 months to women from backgrounds underrepresented in STEM industries.
Women applicants must currently be enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate degree program at a 4-year, 2-year, vocational, or technical institution in the United States to be eligible. Women must either be majoring in a STEM field or be actively engaged in personal projects or jobs in the STEM field to apply.
Winners will be selected based on their drive to succeed, ambition in their field, and the impact that winning the scholarship would have for them.
Please write an essay that shares your career goals in STEM and how you plan on achieving them. What are your current activities in STEM fields? What is your dream job? What type of impact do you want to have in STEM fields?
Winners and Finalists
May 2020
Winning Application
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FAQ
The application deadline is Apr 3, 2020. Winners will be announced on May 20, 2020.
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Award amounts per winner are designated by the donor. Check the award amount for a detailed breakdown.
The winner will be publicly announced on May 20, 2020. Prior to the announcement date, we may contact finalists with additional questions about their application. We will work with donors to review all applications according to the scholarship criteria. Winners will be chosen based on the merit of their application.
Award checks will be sent to the financial aid office of the winner's academic institution in their name to be applied to their tuition, and in the name of their institution (depending on the school's requirements). If the award is for a qualified educational non-tuition expense, we will work with the winner directly to distribute the award and make sure it goes towards qualified expenses.
Before we award the scholarship, the winner will be required to confirm their academic enrollment status. Depending on the circumstances, verification of Student ID and/or their most recent transcript will be required.
If you have any questions about this scholarship or the Bold.org platform, just email contact@bold.org and we’ll get back to you as quickly as we can.
Yes. The terms and conditions for this scholarship can be found here.
