For the first time in the history of the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) Diamond Jubilee Scholarships, more than half of the recipients of the prestigious engineering scholarship programme are female. 

In response to the engineering skills shortage, and the fact that only nine per cent of UK engineers are female, the IET and its funding partners made a commitment to use the scholarship programme to identify the UK’s best young female engineering talent.

As a result, 51 of the 100 students who received an IET Diamond Jubilee Scholarship at a ceremony at IET London: Savoy Place last week were female. The scholarships will help to support them through their engineering degree programmes.

In addition, 26 IET Engineering Horizons Bursaries were awarded for the first time to support apprentices and students who have faced personal difficulties or financial hardship.

IET president Jeremy Watson CBE said: “I’d like to congratulate all the outstanding students and apprentices who are receiving scholarships and bursaries from the IET. Engineering is an exciting and diverse career with the opportunity to change lives – and the world – and we want to get this message out to as many people as possible.”

He continued: “As we face a national skills shortage, we must attract more young people, particularly girls, into engineering so I’m delighted that over half of this year’s Diamond Jubilee Scholarships are being awarded to female students. It’s also a pleasure to award our first Engineering Horizons Bursaries – as they represent a really exciting new opportunity to help talented people facing financial difficulties realise their dreams to become engineers, whether through a degree or apprenticeship.”

“I hope that the support we are providing through these scholarships and bursaries will enable all these students and apprentices to complete their studies and lead them onto long and rewarding careers in engineering,” he added.

IET scholarships and bursaries provide students with £1,000 per year of study on engineering degree or apprenticeship programmes, for up to four years. They are funded by the IET with support from charitable foundations and engineering companies, including BAE Systems, BT, Lloyd’s Register Foundation, Siemens, The Engineers Trust, The ERA Foundation, The Manly Trust, Mr and Mrs Tubbs and the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851.