Range Rover Evoque WISE (Women In Science and Engineering) Scholarship opens for 2014 applicants
Jaguar Land Rover has opened its 2014 Range Rover Evoque WISE Scholarship for young women planning a career in technology and engineering in the UK.
Launched last year by Zara Phillips, the scholarship will offer two young women, embarking on the first steps of their engineering career, an extra boost with financial, mentoring and practical support. Both winners, one undergraduate student and one aspiring engineering apprentice, will receive £1,000 per year for three years towards their studies, the offer of mentor support from Jaguar Land Rover and WISE, and the offer of a summer placement at Jaguar Land Rover.
With currently only 4% of the registered engineering workforce in the UK being female, Jaguar Land Rover plays a strong role in supporting a change in how women and girls are encouraged to consider technology and engineering careers and the subject choices or vocational pathways that lead to them. In 2013, the same year Jaguar Land Rover partnered with WISE to inspire more young women to take up engineering as a career and increase diversity in the industry, 248,000 young people took part in Jaguar Land Rover school STEM challenges, of which 37%, 91,760 were female. Overall, the company’s award-winning ‘Inspiring Tomorrow’s Engineers’ education programme has engaged more than one million young people in the UK over the past decade.
Nicci Cook, Jaguar Land Rover Senior HR Manager, Product Creation & Delivery comments: “Last year we had such an overwhelming response and we are delighted to be opening the scholarship again in 2014. 11% of current JLR engineers are female (up from 9% in 2012 and well above industry average) which demonstrates the positive impact our women in engineering programmes including the Range Rover Evoque WISE Scholarship are having engaging and supporting young women as they pursue engineering careers. Through programmes such as the Scholarship, Jaguar Land Rover is looking to contribute to the national aspirations to double the number of women studying engineering and technology degrees at undergraduate level by 2030; boost the number of women pursuing careers in engineering and technology; and increase the number of young people studying mathematics and physics at 18. We’re excited this year to be able to offer two scholarships to two worthy beneficiaries, building on the success of the scholarship we provided last year”.
Harriet Vickers, 19, from Spalding in Lincolnshire, was the first beneficiary of the Scholarship, which is helping her through her engineering degree course at Durham University. Harriet comments: “The support that the Scholarship has given me over the past year has been fantastic. In addition to the financial aid, having access to a mentor with a wealth of experience in the world of engineering has been invaluable. I’m now planning my work placement at Jaguar Land Rover and am looking forward to getting stuck into some more practical work over the summer”
In May 2014, Jaguar Land Rover also pledged its support to Your Life, a national government STEM campaign set up to outline national ambitions for greater participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), amongst women.
