Thirteen students have been successful in applying for the Kainos Digital Bursary, which offers female BCU students on Computing related courses to purchase digital devices, books, and support general living costs, with mentorship and work placement opportunities.
The Faculty of Computing, Engineering, and the Built Environment has an established partnership with Kainos, who offer a scholarship and digital bursary to female Computing students.
Students who have been successful in applying for the bursary were commended in a special event in April. Three representatives from Kainos visited our campus to present certificates to 13 Computing students who had successfully applied for the Kainos Digital Bursary programme. This programme with BCU is only the second in the country so far and is aimed at addressing the gender gap in the tech industry, where women make up less than 20 per cent of the workforce.
The project, coordinated by the Careers+ team for the CEBE faculty, will allow 13 students to access a bursary of either £500 or £1000, as well as access to a mentor from Kainos as part of a bespoke BCU and Kainos mentoring programme, to encourage and inspire undergraduate women throughout their academic journey. The scholarship applications were judged by BCU staff members Simon Handley, Sara Hassan, Jagdev Bhogal and David Bond.
Bursary recipient Abida Ahmed said:
“I am overjoyed to have received the Kainos Digital Bursary. In the future, I hope to pursue a career in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science. This bursary, I feel, will help to support this. With this, I hope to make a difference in my community, and this bursary will undoubtedly help me afford the education I need to do so. Obtaining this bursary would allow me to close the financial gap while still allowing me to fulfil my long-term ambitions. I am also eager to expand my professional networks and gain a deeper understanding of the sector and participating in the BCU Kainos mentoring programme will assist me in doing so.”
BCU and Kainos have pledged to explore what additional opportunities can be offered to students, and further collaboration with BCU and Kainos staff will work on developing a closer partnership, aimed to support student employability more widely across the department.
Kainos is an organisation that provides digital technology solutions and workday deployments that allow companies and people to work smarter, faster, better.
Students who applied for the bursary, had to meet the following eligibility criteria:
- You are currently studying a full-time or part-time Computing related degree, at Birmingham City University, within the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment
- You are a female student
- You are aged 18+
If you meet the eligibility criteria and are interested in applying for this bursary in future, then look out for more updates on the Kainos bursary page.
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