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Coventry University celebrates success of research scholarships for Women in STEM in creating opportunities for women from South Asia
Asbah Batool
Research news
Wednesday 06 November 2024
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Coventry University scholars have praised the Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) programme after a successful first year.
The scholarships, in collaboration with the British Council, are open to women from South Asia in a bid to encourage more women into the STEM fields.
Coventry University’s first cohort in academic year 2023/24 saw six women studying at its campus.
Before moving to Coventry, Asbah Batool from Pakistan had never lived or travelled alone, never lived in another country, and is now proud to have friends from all over the world.
The best thing about the scholarship is being able to see things with my own eyes that before I could only read about. In Pakistan, we could read and watch material online but now I get to be directly involved in projects that I am passionate about for real.
I’m working on them, I’m part of it and I’m passionate about it.
In Pakistan STEM fields are not made for women. They're considered masculine fields and I have always been told that I don't need to go into STEM. However, my father inspired me and, as I have a very supportive family, I was encouraged to pursue a career that interested me, and I wanted to prove people wrong and go beyond my boundaries.
Asbah Batool
Iqra Jilani, also from Pakistan, echoed Asbah’s experience and passion:
It’s great to be able to work on projects that have an impact and learn skills that I will eventually be deployed to use for something of a greater good and a greater impact.
After a successful first year studying for their Masters, Asbah, who is studying Research in Energy Storage Technologies and Iqra, who is studying a Masters by Research in Computational Science and Artificial Intelligence, have now been enrolled into the second phase and are working towards their PhDs.
Both women are keen to encourage younger girls back in Pakistan to pursue studies in STEM without having any doubts in themselves. Iqra has spoken about the scholarship at her university in Pakistan and says she had a great response from women who want to know how to apply.
I have benefited greatly from the support of my supervisor who identified my strengths and weaknesses straight away and was able to guide me to reach my full potential.
Iqra Jilani
We’re really pleased with the success of the first year of cohorts, we have four out of the six scholars from last year continuing to study for a PhD and we can’t wait to see what our new students achieve.
Professor Elena Gaura, Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor Research at Coventry University
After the success of the first year, a second cohort of students have just enrolled for the 2024/25 academic year.
Discover the Coventry University eligibility criteria
Find out more about the British Council scholarships
