BRITISH Council Malaysia has launched their Women in STEM (WIS) scholarship for the third consecutive year to accelerate women’s participation and progress in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) sectors.
The gender gap in STEM is evident as representation of women researchers globally shows less than 30%. While there is a good representation of female students in undergraduate STEM programmes, this does not translate to the same for postgraduate studies. Many factors might be keeping them away from pursuing postgraduate studies which require time off from families and other personal obligations.
British Council Women in STEM scholarships acknowledge this and cover more than just tuition fee and living cost. They are also supporting accompanying children. This serves as a passport for women to unleash their potential by getting access to a world class education with a peace of mind.
To create more visibility on this scholarship programme and to give a toast for women thriving in STEM, The Petri Dish and Science Media Centre Malaysia are joining hands with British Council Malaysia to host a hybrid forum themed; “Embracing Equity for Gender Equality”.
The physical event will be taking place at Double Tree by Hilton, Kuala Lumpur on 18 March 2023, 3pm to 5 pm.
This forum has a powerful line-up of prominent figures in STEM and British Council WIS Scholars (2021/2022) who will be sharing their experience on how their postgraduate degrees added value to their career progression, the challenges they faced in pursuing their studies, and their aspirations for WIS. Not to mention also how they beat gender stereotypes, striking life-work balance and the connections they have made around the world while studying abroad.
These challenges are further amplified in male dominated sectors like engineering, computer related fields and even in agriculture and plantation sectors.
The speakers who are on board are Ts. Dr Mahaletchumy Arujanan, Executive Director of Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre (MABIC); Dr Jezamine Lim, Co-founder and CEO of Cell Biopeutics Resources; Professor Datuk Wira Dr Raha Abdul Rahim, CEO of National Institutes of Biotechnology Malaysia; Nurimanina Najwa binti Shahrin, WIS Scholar and Debbie Ann Loh, WIS Scholar.
This panel discussion is moderated by Tan Su Lin, Co-Founder of Science Media Centre Malaysia.
Young girls and female early career researchers, there are fewer role models and mentors from the same gender. This forum hopes to bridge this gap.
“Women who want to pursue post-graduate studies face additional challenges as primary caregivers. Support for accompanying children is a boon that allows them to pursue their education dream in the UK,” said Mahaletchumy, the world-renowned science communicator.
The forum will be followed by “Ask Me Anything” session where academics from participating UK universities will be responding to participants’ queries about the scholarships and the academic programmes, which will be moderated by Prabha Sundram, Head of Education, British Council Malaysia. Jennifer Gazzard from University of Strathclyde, Xiahong (Sharon) Gao, Middlesex University London and Danielle Carr, Newcastle University will be joining virtually to interact with women who are interested in pursuing their postgraduate studies abroad.
Debbie Ann Loh, an awardee of WIS scholar (2021/2022) who pursued her postgraduate studies at Liverpool John Moores University in M(Sc) in International Public Health describes her experience as enriching as she had classmates from 12 different countries and it gave her an opportunity to immerse herself in diverse cultures.
Loh believes that when young women enter STEM, they become icons of empowerment to the upcoming generation. Loh currently works as a Policy and Research Officer with the All-Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia on the Sustainable Development Goals (APPGM-SDG) Loh will be present at the forum.
To register for this event: https://forms.office.com/e/bVEg3sg9Tm
For more details on the scholarship: https://www.britishcouncil.org/study-work-abroad/in-uk/scholarship-women-stem.
