Sky expands scholarship for outstanding women in STEM

Following the extraordinary success of the first Women in Tech Scholars programme, Sky is expanding the scheme for its second cycle. This year, five outstanding women with passion in Science, Technology and Engineering and a drive to make a difference will be selected as Sky Scholars.

In addition to winning a £25,000 bursary, the Women in Tech Scholars will be paired with an expert mentor in their chosen field. Over the course of the one-year scheme, their mentor will be on hand to provide technical support as well as access to a network of business contacts to develop and nurture the talented entrepreneurs.

The programme has already achieved remarkable success with the current scholars already recognised for their work across the globe. In the last twelve months our female entrepreneurs have gone onto work with companies like Rolls Royce and Airbnb, and one scholar, Kike Oniwinde, has even been recognised in the 2019 Forbes 30 under 30 for founding the Black Young Professionals Networking app.

Speaking about her experience of the programme, Kike said "This scholarship from Sky has contributed to my development as an entrepreneur. Having that access to expert support has been beneficial and I'm incredibly grateful. I’m part of a community here, with people who are invested in helping me succeed.”

Applications are now open until Monday 8th April 2019 to women of any age and across any field of technology, including software development, broadcast engineering, AI and machine learning, robotics and digital. You may, like Kike, be passionate about using technology to create greater diversity within business, or you may be driven to find solutions to environmental issues like reducing the plastic in our oceans. No matter what the idea, Sky wants to hear from more women in tech.

Elaine Bucknor, Director for Group Technology Strategy, Sky, commented, “Our hope is that the scholarships will make a real difference to the careers of these women – it will give them a chance to explore new avenues and build new skills and create successful businesses with the support of Sky.”

Sky’s Women in Tech Scholars programme is part of Sky’s Bigger Picture programme, investing in the next generation of talent across media, sports and technology.

If you, or anyone you know are interested in applying for the scholarship, full information can be found at https://www.skywomenintechscholars.com/

About Sky:

With 23 million customers across seven countries, Sky is Europe’s leading media and entertainment company and is proud to be part of the Comcast group.

We have 31,000 colleagues and together we want to connect our customers to more of what they love, including our award-winning original productions, like Patrick Melrose and Save Me, and great shows from our partners including HBO, Showtime and Warner Bros. And our ever improving technology makes it even easier for customers to watch more of the shows they love with personalised recommendations and voice control and, our online streaming service, NOW TV, brings all the enjoyment of Sky with the flexibility of a contract free service.

We treat our customers better than anyone else in our field, as Ofcom’s complaints data shows, and we look after our staff too. Sky is one of The Times Top 50 employers for women and we’re in Stonewall’s list of Top 50 LGBT-Inclusive employers.

We also use our position as the leading entertainment business in Europe to do the right thing. As part of Sky Ocean Rescue campaign we’re committing to be completely single-use plastic free by 2020, we’re investing £25million over five years in ocean-saving tech and we’re supporting the WWF to protect our oceans with designated Marine Protected Areas.