The Royal Academy of Engineering and Amazon have announced the first recipients of newly expanded Amazon Future Engineer bursary scheme, launched earlier this year.
Twelve awards, worth £5,000 a year for up to four years, have been granted to women students from low-income households progressing from A Level, Scottish Highers or technical education courses to university education in the 2021/22 academic year.
The awardees will be offered mentoring from Amazon leaders for a minimum of six months to support them at a formative stage in their professional career. The mentors will help students overcome roadblocks while providing invaluable guidance and career advice. Awardees will also be invited to networking and training events at Amazon and the Royal Academy of Engineering, and have access to a community forum providing a peer-to-peer network.
Women are still significantly underrepresented in engineering and technology in higher education. UCAS data on university application and acceptance figures for the 2020 cycle highlighted that women represent just 16% and 18% of accepted applications to computing and engineering degrees respectively. At the current rate of progress, parity of women in engineering degrees will not be achieved until 2085.
“All of these inspirational young women have demonstrated a drive and passion for computing and engineering. They are terrific examples of the talent that exists in schools and colleges across the UK. As they enter careers in engineering, computing and technology, our profession and the communities we serve will be the beneficiaries.”
– Dr Rhys Morgan, Director of Education at the Royal Academy of Engineering
Amazon Future Engineer bursary recipients
- Kirsty Balfour, University of Glasgow, Computer Science and Mathematics
- Finlay Harris, University of Strathclyde, Electronic and Electrical Engineering
- Neve Hoccom, University of Exeter, Computer Science
- Eleanor MacCarthy, Goldsmiths, University of London, Creative Computing
- Vanessa Neboh, King’s College London, Computer Science
- Liliana Odjo, University of Warwick, Computer Science
- Sadia Wahid – Imperial College London, Computing (International Programme of Study)
You can find out more about the bursary recipients here.
