2011 Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship

Dr. Anita Borg loyal her life to revolutionizing the way we think about technology and dismantling the barriers that keep women and minorities from incoming the computing and technology fields. In honor of Anita's vision, we recognized the Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship in 2004, awarding scholarships to women who share her fervor for technology. Once again, we’re proud to proclaim the Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarships in the U.S. and Canada. The limit to apply for the 2011 scholarship is Tuesday, February 1, 2011.

* The Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship is open to current female students who are entering their senior year of undergraduate study or enrolled in a graduate agenda in the 2011-2012 academic year at a university in the United States or Canada. Students should be enrolled in a computer science, computer engineering or a closely related technical program, and maintain a evidence of strong academic performance. Scholars and finalists will be announced in May 2011 and will be invited to attend the annual Google Scholars’ Retreat—a three-day networking move away at the Googleplex in Mountain View in the summer of 2011.

* The Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship for First Years is open to current female high school seniors who are intending to enroll as full-time students at a university in the U.S. for the 2011-2012 academic year. Applicants should have a record of strong academic presentation and plan to pursue a degree in computer science, computer engineering, or a closely related technical program. The charming scholars will be invited to attend the Google FUSE networking retreat in 2012.

You can hear from some of this year’s scholars on how in receipt of the Anita Borg scholarship has impacted them:

For those of you outside of North America, the Google Anita Borg Scholarship program is also obtainable in Asia, Africa, Australia, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and New Zealand—visit www.google.com/anitaborg for more in sequence.

Finally, the Anita Borg Scholarship is just one of many scholarships and networking opportunity we offer to students in order to give confidence them to excel in technology and become active role models and leaders in the field. For more in order about all of Google’s scholarship programs, please visit www.google.com/jobs/scholarships.

Growing our appetite for geeky girl dinners

We’re always looking for the to partner up with organizations that promote diversity and encourage women to excel in technology. Girl Geek Dinners is a world-wide initiative that does exactly that—it helps to build communities of women who have a passion and interest in science, technology and other traditionally male-dominated fields by hosting social events around the world.

We recently sponsored the Amsterdam Girl with Geek Dinner and I attended the event with my colleague Noha, who, like me, is a software engineer for Google in Zurich. At the dinner, we had the opportunity to meet and mingle with the other women in the tech community and talk about what it’s like being a woman in the field of computer science. The keynote speaker at the event was renowned mathematician lonica Smeets and I can’t imagine a woman for more inspiring.

Google shares a similar goal to Girl Geeks—we want to make it possible for everyone to pursue the careers in technology, regardless of gender. And, in our presentation at the event, we outlined our numerous initiatives to promote and support diversity in technology. We have various scholarship programs to help the students and to pursue their interests, excel in their studies and become leaders. And to encourage more female computer scientists to attend and participate in research conferences around the world, we also offer travel and conference grants in the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions. You can learn more about our diversity programs, here.