UCL Engineering to waive fees for female masters students

Uni commit to offer free postgrad study to female engineers

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UCL are to offer female postgrads full-time bursaries for a range of masters courses in engineering as part of their drive to redress the gender imbalance in the testosterone-heavy sector.

The financial support covers tuition fees, mentoring from industry top brass and leading researchers, as well as the cost of childcare – and uni bigwigs will open up a range of courses, such as nanotechnology, telecommunications, computer graphics and biotechnology, to women that they admit are “vastly under-represented in engineering”.

There has been a visible push for more X chromosomes in UCL Engineering

Existing students are likely to face some competition for places, with Engineering Vice Dean Jane Butler trumpeting the offer as “ideal for women returning to work or changing career…a fantastic boost to what can be a wonderful career for women to pursue”.

The offer of free study is part of a college-wide scheme to encourage post-grad applications from groups that are low on numbers, including the state-educated, carers, and students with children.

The £500k commitment to diversity should come as a welcome piece of news to students in an academic year that have seen the Provost come under fire for links to regimes with dodgy records on LGBT rights and civil liberties in Qatar and Kazakhstan.

This free money represents yet another result for wannabe engineers, who already stand to rake in some of the best earnings on graduation with average starting salaries of £26,000. At least Humanities students have, erm…more fun?