High female application rate for Simula’s entrepreneurial scholarship
Published:
In November, Simula Research Laboratory announced two entrepreneurial scholarships for tech startups where one of the two scholarships is earmarked a female candidate. The application deadline was January 15th, and Simula received a total of 97 applications. 56 of the applicants are female, while 41 are male. This means that an 58% of applicants are female tech entrepreneurs.
The entrepreneurial scholarships received a fair share of media attention, with articles appearing in Computerworld, Shifter and on Abelia.no amongst others, in addition to social media activity, and we are happy to see such a high number of female applicants. The high number is a striking contrast to the low number of female entrepreneurs in the technology sector as-is.
Improving the gender balance
Women make out about one percent of all tech entrepreneurs. Earmarking one of the scholarships for a female tech entrepreneur is motivated by the wish to create positive role models, and to encourage innovation that we are presently missing out on due to the extremely low rate of gender diversity. The European Commission state that “female creativity and entrepreneurial potential are an under-exploited source of economic growth and jobs that should be further developed.”
Applications are under evaluation
The applications are presently being evaluated by a jury that has been specifically chosen based on their experience with innovation and entrepreneurship. We expect to announce the winners of the two scholarships in the middle of February.