- New studentship available to female Bournemouth University cyber students
- £5,000 grant for three undergraduate students over the next three academic years
BOURNEMOUTH, UK – May 22, 2024 – Today, ESET UK, a global leader in cybersecurity, has announced it has partnered with Bournemouth University (BU) to encourage more women to train for careers in cyber security.
The launch of ESET’s Women in Cyber Studentship will provide one female student per year, enrolling onto one of BU’s undergraduate courses in cyber security, with a £5,000 grant and a hardware package. The studentship is available for women applying to BSc (Hons) Cyber Security Management, BSc (Hons) Cyber Security with Digital Forensics, or BSc (Hons) Networks and Cyber Security. Currently, only 13% of students enrolled on these courses are female.
The partnership will benefit three students over the next three academic years and is part of ESET’s work to promote greater diversity within the industry and inspire the next generation of female cyber professionals.
The need for initiatives like this is reflected by figures from the Higher Education Statistic Agency (HESA) which shows that only 20% of computer science graduates in the 2021/22 academic year were women. This underrepresentation continues into the workforce as the latest ISC2 Women in Cybersuggests that only 20% of women make up the cyber security workforce in the UK. In fact, Tony Fadell, father of the iPod, commented at ESET World 2024, on why diversity of thought and support of diversity in STEM education matters.
In addition to the funding and hardware, the studentship recipient will also have the opportunity to learn from industry professionals at ESET.
“We are incredibly proud to join forces with BU to help accelerate women’s access into cyber careers”, said Matt Knell, ESET UK Country Manager. “We hope this studentship will help to address the gender gap in the industry and we are excited to support the journeys of each of the three female scholars in the coming years.”
Claire House-Norman, Director of Fundraising & Alumni Relations at BU, said: “Our studentship programme provides flexible support to students where it is needed most - in the case of the ESET Women in Cyber Studentship, promoting greater inclusion. We are grateful for this support and know that it will make a real impact on the student recipients.”
Supporting and empowering women in their pursuit of a career in cybersecurity is a key part of ESET’s global ESG strategy. ESET’s global Women in Cybersecurity Scholarship programme was first established in 2015 with the initiative currently running in North America, Canada and Australia. The UK studentship will be ESET’s first studentship in the European region.
The partnership with BU follows a combined partnership with AFC Bournemouth Women’s team as shirt sponsors. ESET also invited BU students to take part in their inspiring ‘Girls can do IT’ campaign earlier in the year. As part of a panel discussion the students shared their stories on why they are pursuing a career in IT, relaying their journeys and paths of education to the under-14 and under-16 girls teams.
For more information: https://www.eset.com/uk/women-in-cybersecurity-scholarship/