Women are woefully under-represented in computing fields. I know; you’ve heard me say this before, but the statistics bear repeating: In 2014, women made up less than 20 percent of those graduating with computer and information science degrees, despite the fact that women overall accounted for more than half of all baccalaureate graduates.
This dearth of women pursuing computing degrees is doubly unfortunate. First, it deprives the economy of much-needed talent: the U.S. Department of Labor predicts that, at present rates, only 39 percent of the estimated 1.2 million computing-related jobs in 2022 will be filled by computing graduates. Second, women bring a unique perspective to male-dominated computing fields, providing the team diversity that executives value (opens in new tab).
Microsoft Research is committed to increasing women’s presence in computing, which is why we established the Graduate Women’s Scholarship (opens in new tab). These scholarships offer vital support to female computing students during their second year of graduate studies: a US$15,000 stipend plus a US$2,000 travel and conference allowance—resources to help the recipients gain visibility in their departments, acquire mentorship, and cover the ever-growing cost of graduate programs.
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Here are the winners of the 2015 Microsoft Research Graduate Women’s Scholarship:
- Alexandra Schofield, Cornell University
- Hannah Gommerstadt, Carnegie Mellon University
- Jane E, Stanford University
- Jiaqi Mu, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
- Kaitlyn Becker, Harvard University
- Kellie Ottoboni, University of California, Berkeley
- Lisa Gai, University of California, Los Angeles
- Olga Zamaraeva, University of Washington, Seattle
- Sulekha Kulkarni, Georgia Institute of Technology
- Wenjie Xiong, Yale University
In addition to the Graduate Women’s Scholarships, Microsoft Research is proud to support the NCWIT Academic Alliance Seed Fund (opens in new tab), which provides U.S. academic institutions with funds (up to US$15,000 per project) to develop and implement initiatives for recruiting and retaining women in computer science and information technology fields of study. Learn more (opens in new tab) about the Seed Fund and the recently announced 2015 award recipients.
Congratulations to all the winning programs and students. We look forward to great things from 2015’s women in computing.
—Rane Johnson-Stempson (opens in new tab), Principal Research Director, Microsoft Research
Learn more
- NCWIT and Microsoft Research Kick Start Academic Programs for Attracting Women to Computing Fields (opens in new tab) (Press Release)
- Global Diversity and Inclusion: Fostering Innovation Through a Diverse Workforce (opens in new tab)
- NCWIT Academic Alliance Seed Fund (opens in new tab)
- Microsoft Research Graduate Women’s Scholarship (opens in new tab)
- Internships at Microsoft Research (opens in new tab)
- Women in Computing (opens in new tab)