September 2006 ISSUE
EDUCATION
iBM Scholarship Offered Through
Memorial Foundation
IBM Canada is stepping forward to encourage more young Canadian women to choose
engineering as a career by offering two new university undergraduate scholarships.
The Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation has announced its partnership with IBM for the two scholarships for women in electrical or computer engineering. The scholarships will be offered for the first time this fall.
The new $2,500 IBM Canada Undergraduate Engineering Scholarships will be awarded annually beginning in October 2006. While recognizing high grades is important, this scholarship is awarded based on leadership, extracurricular activities and the applicant’s dedication to encouraging more women to enter electrical or computer engineering rather than academic performance.
Criteria and guidelines are now posted at www.cemf.ca or by calling 1-866-883-2363. Deadline is Oct. 20, and all applications must be postmarked no later than that date.
The partnership comes at an essential time in Canada, with the number of women enrolling in accredited engineering programs on the decline, says the memorial foundation. Total full-time female undergraduate enrolment has dropped from 20.6 per cent in 2001 to 18.5 per cent in 2004.
At the same time, women account for close to 60 per cent of the overall undergraduate student body at Canadian universities.
“At IBM, we recognize the importance of reaching out to young Canadian women to encourage them to consider engineering as an exciting and rewarding career option,” says Dave Scott, campus programs manager for IBM Canada. “Working with CEMF to provide these two new undergraduate scholarships is an important addition to our efforts to increase the number of female engineers in the country.”
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