Prospective female engineering students have been invited to apply for a £9,000 bursary courtesy of automotive Land Rover and charity Wise, set up to inspire girls to pursue careers in STEM subjects.
Three female students or apprentices will be awarded a bursary to help support their engineering degree or apprenticeship.
They will also be provided with mentoring support from both Land Rover senior engineers and Wise representatives, with funding coming from the 2012 MacRobert Award, which was presented to Land Rover for the Range Rover Evoque.
Land Rover says it is keen to address the fact that just 13% of engineering undergraduates are female, with a recent report stating the UK needs to double engineering graduate while tripling its engineering apprentices to meet industry needs by 2020.
Nicci Cook, senior HR manager at Land Rover said the new schoolarship is aimed at recruiting a new generation of women engineers.
“Land Rover has a proud tradition of encouraging diversity in the workplace. Engineering is at the very heart of our business and we rely on a broad range of talents to give us a competitive edge and help us move forwards,” she said.
“We hope that the Range Rover Evoque WISE Scholarship will inspire a new generation of women in engineering,” she added.
The bursary campaign was launched in May by Zara Phillips, whose Grandmother, the Queen worked as a mechanical engineer in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS).
Talking about the campaign, Phillips said: “The UK has a rich heritage of women in engineering, encouraged by the success of the ATS.
“I’m delighted to be supporting the Range Rover Evoque Wise Scholarship which provides young women with the opportunity to progress their career.”
The scholarship is the first key activity to be announced using the funding from the award.
The remainder of the fund will be used to expand Land Rover’s Inspiring Tomorrow’s Engineers 4×4 schools challenge into a global initiative – allowing schools around the world the opportunity to explore engineering as a career option.
