Mastercard awards Singapore scholarships to promote women in STEM

Mastercard has announced the 2017 recipients of the Mastercard MBA Scholarships for Women at Singapore Management University (SMU) and the Mastercard Scholarship for Women at Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD).

Awardees Shaily Sharma (SMU), Zhou Yuzhen (SMU), Chen Jing (SUTD) and Debbie Lim Li Lin (SUTD) were selected for their outstanding academic achievements, keen leadership and entrepreneurial qualities and excellent community service records.

2017 marks the Mastercard MBA Scholarships for Women’s seventh year of collaboration with SMU. Awarded to full-time female MBA candidates from Asia Pacific, it aims to develop their academic and entrepreneurship potential and nurture them to be socially-responsible women. The scholarship also includes an internship with Mastercard, which offers invaluable insight into the business and operations of the global payments company. To date, 17 young women have received this scholarship.

Leila Guerra, Assistant Dean, Postgraduate Programmes, Lee Kong Chian School of Business, SMU said, “SMU’s partnership with Mastercard is mutually aligned and beneficial. Both organisations are strong proponents of business innovation and diversity for integrated community growth and betterment. SMU has an edge in generating entrepreneurial and holistic leaders, who are adept in critical thinking, are socially responsible and global-ready. On average, close to 40% of our MBA students are women and there are typically more than 15 nationalities in every class – embracing and appreciating diversity are values which we hold dear. The opportunity from this Mastercard Scholarship further empowers SMU and our MBA recipients to make a bigger difference in advancing more leadership roles for women, which in turn will help them make more meaningful impact in society.”

Now in its third year, the Mastercard Scholarship for Women at Singapore University of Technology and Design is awarded to outstanding full-time female undergraduates pursuing their third year of studies at SUTD. To date, six women have been awarded the scholarship which aims to support women in developing strong technical, engineering and leadership skills to build female STEM* leaders of tomorrow. This scholarship will help cover the cost of the recipients’ annual subsidised tuition fees for one academic year at SUTD.

SUTD President Professor Thomas Magnanti said, “SUTD aims to develop a new generation of technically grounded leaders and innovators who can help better the world by design and the Mastercard – SUTD Scholarship for Women aligns well with the SUTD woman’s programme; it will go towards nurturing female leaders with strong engineering and technical abilities. In Singapore, women are under-represented in the field of engineering and we are grateful to Mastercard for their generosity and earnestness in partnering with SUTD to attract more women to take up STEM as we value the important contributions women can make in technology and design.”

Georgette Tan, Senior VP, Communications, Asia Pacific, Mastercard, said, “Engaging, encouraging and empowering women, particularly in their academic years, is a critical step in helping address the gender gap and changing the role of women in advancing our communities and economies. In fact, according to the latest Mastercard Girls in Tech survey, girls aged 17 to 19 told us that access to scholarships is the top motivator to pursue a career in STEM, a future career path where women continue to be underrepresented. Together with like-minded and well-respected educational institutions such as SMU and SUTD, we are committed to encouraging young women to pursue their passions and build their confidence to help them become leaders in their chosen fields and society at large.”

*STEM refers to the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and math.