FILIPINO women in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics are invited to apply for the Round 2 of the British Council scholarships for Women in STEM.
Those from Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam can obtain support to pursue a Master’s degree or Early Academic Fellowship from a university in the United Kingdom.
Twenty-nine scholarships from six UK universities are available via Brunel University, Teesside University, Liverpool John Moores University, Edinburgh Napier University, University of Glasgow and University of York. The scholarships include funding for 21 Master’s degrees and eight PhDs or fellowships.
Courses offered include those in the fields of climate change, health-care management, automation and water engineering, among others. Scholars will have access to financial support—including tuition fees, stipends, travel costs, visas, health-coverage fees and special support for mothers.
“To meet the challenges of the 21st century, we need more women and girls studying and working in STEM fields,” said Leighton Ernsberger, Education and English director of the British Council. “But often, social and economic opportunities limit women from advancing their professional ambitions.”
Ernsberger added: “The UK has a world-renowned higher education sector that is truly international. These scholarships will enable talented women to take up a life-changing opportunity to develop careers in their chosen STEM fields, and then harness the experience to make a greater impact for good when they return home.”
Last year 15 scholars from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam traveled to the UK to start their Master’s degrees in STEM subjects as part of the first Scholarships for Women in STEM cohort.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or Unesco, said fewer than 30 percent of researchers worldwide are women, and only the same number of female students select STEM-related fields in higher education. As a typical STEM worker earns two-thirds more than non-STEM workers, giving women equal chances to pursue STEM careers helps narrow the gender pay gap and would be key in attaining the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 5: Achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls.
In the Philippines, marketing and public relations firm Evident reports that “just 2 in seven engineering students are female, only 41 percent of students taking information-technology-related courses are women, and women make up only 43 percent of STEM enrolments—mostly in non-engineering or non-information technologyfields, according to statistics from the Commission on Higher Education.” The country ranks 10th in the world in terms of the gender gap, and first in the whole of Asia, according to a Pew Research Center survey.
Applications should be made directly to the participating universities, and should meet specific requirements. For more information, visit the chosen university’s web site and www.britishcouncil.org/study-work-abroad/in-uk/scholarship-women-stem. This opportunity is open until the end of March 2022.
