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Amplify Women in STEM Scholarship

Funded by
user profile avatar
Steph Smith
$2,500
2 winners, $1,250 each
Awarded
Application Deadline
Jan 1, 2021
Winners Announced
Jan 31, 2021
Education Level
High School, Undergraduate
4
Contributions

While the Amplify Women in STEM Scholarship has already been awarded, we have plenty more scholarships for women and more scholarships for women in STEM available on Bold.org.

We live in the information era, where technology underpins so much of our daily lives. Technology influences the way we communicate, learn, entertain. And it has an increasing influence on key issues like the economy, foreign policy, privacy, healthcare, and more.

In short, it’s impossible to ignore the tremendous impact that technology has on our lives, and we’re only just getting started.

With great power comes great responsibility. If this industry is going to have an outsized impact on the world, the people that are creating that future should be made up of a representative population. In other words, the decisions that go into making these products should be made by a diverse range of people.

Women are one of the underserved populations in tech. In fact, women make up nearly half of the US labor market, but only 28% of the STEM workforce is female. The gender gap is even higher in some of the fastest-growing and highest-paid tech & engineering jobs.

We can all benefit from having more women entering the science, technology, engineering, and math fields. Gender diversity introduces new perspectives, enabling us to better solve the complex problems of the future.

Tech is the future, and women must be a part of it.

As a contribution to the solution, the Amplify Women in STEM Scholarship exists to support the young women in tech who are determined to harness their strengths and innovate for the future.

The scholarship is open to female high school seniors and undergraduate students who plan to or are currently pursuing a STEM degree.

To apply for this scholarship, you must tell us about a woman in STEM (past or present) whom you admire and then explain what you hope to achieve in STEM.

This scholarship is part of a 12-part, AMPLIFY Scholarship Series, spanning topics including women in tech, continuous learning, environmental science, and more. These scholarships are announced quarterly and awarded monthly throughout 2021. Follow along here!

Selection Criteria:
Essay, STEM, Ambition, Impact, Drive
Published November 18, 2020
Essay Topic

Tell us about one woman in STEM whom you admire. Then, explain what you hope to achieve in STEM.

100–500 words

Winning Applications

Samantha Bechtel
Portland State UniversityPortland, OR
Amplify Women in STEM Scholarship Essay 12/14/2020 Samantha Bechtel Being raised by a single parent in a rural town delayed the discovery of my passion for learning and higher education. I am embarrassed to admit I wasn’t introduced to engineering until my early twenties; an age when many Americans have already completed their undergraduate degrees. However, what I lacked in punctuality, I made up for with passion. I quickly became infatuated with math and engineering and, until COVID-19 struck, frequented schools and makerspaces to teach and learn from others. A makerspace is a collaborative workshop that supplies equipment and technology, as 3d printers, soldering tools, and industrial machines for creative projects. In 2017, I was lucky enough to go on a road trip across the country with a friend and when we arrived in Boston, Massachusetts we went to the Museum of Science. At the museum I saw an exhibition of 3D printed glass, I had some experience with modern 3D printing, so this really fascinated me. On the information panel there was a picture of this beautiful woman named Neri Oxman. “Neri Oxman is an American- Israeli designer and professor at MIT Media Lab, where she leads the Mediated Matter Research Group. She is known for art and architecture that combine design, biology, computing and materials engineering.” I admired Neri because she looks at designing from another perspective. She understands that we must design sustainably and be inspired by nature. “Founded in 1985, the MIT Media Lab is one of the world’s leading research and academic organizations. Unconstrained by traditional disciplines, Media Lab designers, engineers, artists, and scientists strive to create technologies and experiences that enable people to understand and transform their lives, communities, and environments.” My academic focus is engineering sustainable, innovative living spaces and devices that benefit the planet and humans' quality of life. I am currently majoring in Mechanical Engineering at Portland State University. If I was able to go to Graduate school I would love to join the Mediated Matter Research Group, I find all that they do intriguing. I am also interested in working with NASA or companies like space X that are designing and building innovative technologies. I hope to continue to inspire young women to study STEM. I currently work at The Museum of Science and Industry(OMSI) teaching 7th Graders engineering techniques. I used to teach them welding with a company called Hedron Hackerspace before I worked at OMSI. These programs are possible through the 7th Grade Career Tech Exploration at Portland Public Schools. As I mentioned earlier I did not get introduced to engineering until my early twenties because of this I believe it is imperative to get girls involved with STEM. I have this book called the Women Lead and I read about these women in STEM that are doing incredible things and I want to do the same thing as these women by inspiring others and with this scholarship this can become more possible. Material Referenced from: www.media.mit.edu
Elise Clark
Sand Creek High SchoolColorado Springs, CO

FAQ

When is the scholarship application deadline?

The application deadline is Jan 1, 2021. Winners will be announced on Jan 31, 2021.