15+ Scholarships For Women In Tech

Gender disparity in computing has become a global concern, and yes I am aware that you’re not hearing this for the first time. What might be news to you is that there are various organizations that are providing 50+ women-centric scholarships, internships, events, and fellowship programs. These organizations are making it a priority to get women into STEM fields and they’re making financial investments to back that up.

“I have personally felt the overwhelming loneliness, self-doubt, and frustration that often comes with the minority status of a woman in engineering. As much as I can help others get through or avoid those difficult stretches that I myself had to weather, I’d like to. As a bonus, the more women (and minorities) that enter and don’t leave the field, the better it all gets for everyone, including me!”

- Tracy Chou, Software Engineer at Pinterest.

A lack of representation of women in tech can hinder their ability to succeed in the industry. It limits their opportunities for mentorship and can lead to promoting unconscious gender bias in the workspace, leaving many women without clarity of vision and lingering in self-doubt. When women are underrepresented, many technical decisions are based on a man’s experiences, opinions, and judgment, resulting in a male-dominated outlook. Thus, having a gender-diverse environment in the tech field is more likely to create products or devices that represent the varied requirements of society as a whole.

Providing scholarships encourages women to excel in their field of interest. Most of them are created with a specific purpose like placing female students in programming, advanced postgraduate courses, helping them build their leadership abilities, or increase community spirit prior to attending college.

Keep the pointers mentioned below in mind before applying for the scholarships-

· Most of these scholarships are awarded annually. If the deadline for this year has already passed, put a note in your calendar to check back in a few months.

· I haven’t mentioned the eligibility criteria of all the programs, as it usually differs every year. Please refer to the links provided to know the same and check out all the perks.

1) Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC)

Grace Hopper Celebration is the world’s largest gathering of women in computing. It consists of a combination of technical and career-building sessions designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. Certainly, a great way to network and build connections. This program provides funds for women who are either undergraduate students, graduate students, or faculty members in tech institutions. Learn more.

2) Grace Hopper Celebration India

This program is much like the main GHC event, however, only Indian applicants of undergraduate, master’s and Ph.D. programs from computing, engineering, and IT backgrounds are eligible. It also hosts a career fair where you can explore internships as well as full-time job opportunities with global organizations. The objective of this program is to gain inspiration and get guidance for a career in technology. The full conference registration fee is provided for the selected applicants along with meals, travel fares up to INR 3,000, as well as accommodation. Learn more.

3) Adobe India Women in Technology

This scholarship + internship program is applicable only for Indian citizens. It’s a very tough and prestigious opportunity to crack as it’s provided to 6 students only. The application process consists of getting 3 recommendation letters from your college professors or from wherever you previously interned. Once your application is selected, there are four more rounds — reviewing, screening, deliberations, and interviews with separate panel members. Learn more.

4) Nutanix Scholarship

Offers up to 12 scholarships to female students in the United States, France, Netherlands, India, and Serbia. Out of which 4 scholarships up to $2000 each are awarded to Indian scholars every year. The application not just focuses on your technical skills but also on your extracurricular activities and community service. Learn more.

5) Women Techmakers (WTM)

WTM aims to be a unifier in the ecosystem of women in technology by collaborating with other communities, tech companies, and influencers. It has different scholarships catering to almost all parts of the world. This scholarship is awarded based on the strength of each candidate’s commitment to diversity, equality, leadership, and academic performance. They even have a special scholarship dedicated to assisting students with disabilities while they pursue education and promising careers. Learn more.

6) Red Hat

Red Hat is the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, which believes it’s time to recognize the contributions women are making and inspire a new generation to join the open-source movement. This scholarship is more like an award ceremony, where you can nominate yourself or someone else you think deserves this honor. Further, the organization judges the participant’s open-source work and chooses about 5 (this number can vary each year) winners. From those winners, the Red Hat Innovator of the Year is selected by the community through online voting, and announced during the Red Hat Summit. Learn more.

7) Linux Foundation Training (LiFT)

LiFT provides opportunities to up-and-coming developers and system administrators who show interest in shaping the future of Linux and open-source software but, do not have the ability to attend training courses. Some perks of being a LiFT scholar include peer and faculty mentoring, cross-institutional networking opportunities, and industry-based experiences (e.g-industry field trips, opportunities to network with IT professionals, etc). Learn more.

8) Western Digital

They award up to $1 million in scholarships to create new possibilities for exceptional students whose educational opportunities would be expanded by financial assistance. The maximum amount for an individual can go up to $5,000. This opportunity is applicable for students studying in the United States, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, or Thailand and have a minimum GPA of 3.0 out of 4.0. Learn more.

9) Internshala Career Scholarship

The Internshala Career Scholarship is an annual award of INR 25,000/- meant to help advance one girl’s career in her chosen field. Instituted in 2012, the inspiration for this scholarship lies in the sad coincidence that the Delhi rape victim’s (Nirbhaya Case) struggle for life ended on the same day that Internshala celebrates its anniversary (29th December). The scholarship is meant to recognize a girl who has fought against all odds to pursue the career of her dreams in any field. Learn more.

10) Goldman Sachs Global Scholarship

Along with financial support, a 6-month structured mentorship program is also provided to 50 Indian students which helps the scholars to connect with professionals working in the field who can provide them with valuable advice, proper guidance, and support to ensure their success as they enter into their technical careers after graduation. Learn more.

11) Pragati Scholarship

This is a government scholarship scheme implemented by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for students in their 1st or 2nd year (through lateral entry only) of diploma/degree program. A total of 5,000 scholarships are given out every year. Also, the annual family income of the applicant must not be more than INR 8 lakh during the preceding financial year. Learn more.

12) Qualcomm Global Impact Scholarship

This opportunity is similar to the Goldman Sachs global scholarship. The Global Scholars Program awards scholarships to female students in China, India, Taiwan, and South Korea and gives each scholar a mentor from Qualcomm Global Cooperation in order to support and encourage young women to succeed in their chosen fields. Learn more.

13) Palantir Global Impact Scholarship

About 10 recipients are awarded grants of $5,000 to support their education. This scholarship provides a programming platform that includes professional development sessions and breakout discussions with engineers. The application has two essay questions where students have to describe their contribution to a project that has inspired them, and how they grew from that experience. This platform looks for candidates who have used their time and skills to make a tremendous impact on their local communities. Learn more.

14) Society of Women Engineers Scholarship (SWE)

In the previous year, this society awarded nearly 260 new scholarships valued at over $1,000,000. SWE awards different applications for freshmen students in July, and for sophomore, junior, senior, and graduate students in May for use during the upcoming academic year. These scholarships range from $1,000 to $15,000 each. Learn more.

15) Google Conference & Travel Scholarship

If you are a student at a university and your application is accepted at a top-level computer science conference, but you need travel funds then this scholarship could be your gateway. Under this program, you can get an amount ranging from $1000 to $3000 (this price range is only for Indian students, the amount is different for different countries) for conference registration, travel, accommodation, and related expenses. Its applications are open throughout the year. Learn more.

16) Venket Panchpakesan Memorial Scholarship

Selected students receive a financial award of 750 USD for education-related expenses, and are invited to visit the YouTube headquarters in California, USA. Scholars also have an opportunity to submit a proposal, and potentially receive funding of up to 225 USD to spend on growing computer science in their local community. Learn more.

17) Diversify Tech Education Scholarship

This platform avails a wide variety of scholarships for underrepresented people in tech. It has everything from scholarships for bootcamps, tech conferences to job hunts for which you will have to surf their website and seek your right fit. You can also subscribe to their newsletter for regular updates. Learn more.

“When I was interviewing at Google, one of my interviewers was Marissa Mayer, who told me to constantly challenge myself by going where I could learn and grow the most. Even if you don’t succeed, at least you’ll have learned a lot.”

-Jess Lee, CEO of Polyvore

Will the gender disparity in male-chauvinistic industries ever change? The answer seems to be yes — but gradually.

It wasn’t always easy to find scholarships for women but now you can see that there are various organizations trying their level best so, it’s important that the female community makes the most of it. Do not think about the result beforehand or get disheartened if you do not get shortlisted. Please apply for the knowledge and the insight, the application process itself will teach you a lot, not only about technology but also about yourself.