A new bid to draw women to engineering

The Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) of Australia has launched new defence scholarships in a bid to attract more women in to the engineering sector.

Three female undergraduate students from the Australian National University (ANU) have successfully received the inaugural scholarships.  The three students are Joyce Mau, Molly Thomas and Katrina Kelleher. They are all undergraduate students with majors in engineering.

The scholarship program was developed by the DSTO in collaboration with ANU, the University of New South Wales and the University of Adelaide. The scholarships will be awarded to four female students from each of the three universities. Students must enrol in a designated undergraduate program and the majority number of courses should be from STEM subjects in order to qualify for the scholarships. Students who successfully receive the scholarships will be guaranteed financial support for the entire 4 year program. The financial support is estimated to be around $40,000.

Scholarship recipients will also receive mentoring from the experienced scientists at DSTO and will have the opportunity to undertake work experience at the organisation during semester breaks. In the final year of their study, the recipients will also get an opportunity to undertake a research project under the direction of the organisation’s scientists.

 Female engineers are currently underrepresented in Australia and the DSTO hopes that with the introduction of these scholarships, more female students will enrol in the engineering field and help increase the number of female engineers. 

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