Women make up roughly a third of STEM bachelor’s degree earners globally and a similar share of the tech workforce — a gap wide enough that universities, corporations, and foundations collectively fund well over $200 million a year specifically to close it. Scholarships for Women in STEM guide covers the real, verifiable programs behind that funding: named fellowships, technology-specific scholarships(women-in-STEM scholarships), engineering-specific awards(women in engineering scholarships), and the broader STEM funding landscape for readers whose situation doesn’t fit a gender-specific program.
Why Women-Specific STEM Funding Exists
The underrepresentation isn’t just an access problem at the funding stage — it compounds through the pipeline. Women who do enter STEM fields also face a measurable pay gap once employed, which is part of why so much of this funding explicitly targets retention (mentorship, conference access, professional networks) alongside the money itself. A scholarship that comes with a mentor and a professional community tends to matter as much long-term as the award amount.
L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science: The Flagship Fellowship
For doctoral and post-doctoral researchers specifically, the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science programme remains the most prestigious dedicated fellowship in this space — and it changed meaningfully in 2026.
The South African National Programme and the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Programme officially merged into one unified programme covering all 49 sub-Saharan African countries, including South Africa. Under the previous structure, South Africa-based researchers were explicitly excluded from the regional track — that exclusion is gone.
What it offers:
- €10,000 for doctoral researchers
- €15,000 for post-doctoral researchers
- A leadership training programme alongside the financial award
Eligibility: citizenship of one of the 49 eligible countries, research conducted within a laboratory or institution in one of those countries, work in formal sciences, life and environmental sciences, material sciences, engineering sciences, or technological sciences. Previous awardees of any L’Oréal-UNESCO national or regional programme are not eligible to reapply.
This is a research fellowship, not an internship or corporate role — worth being precise about, since L’Oréal the company separately runs general marketing and business internships that have nothing to do with this science fellowship or with STEM specifically. If you’re looking for the science fellowship, confirm you’re on forwomeninscience.com, not L’Oréal’s general corporate careers page.
Scholarships for Women in Technology
Society of Women Engineers (SWE) — the single most substantial and well-documented program in this space. SWE disbursed over $1.5 million across more than 330 scholarships in a recent year alone, with individual awards ranging from around $1,000 for incoming freshmen to $15,000 for graduate students. Coverage spans engineering, engineering technology, and computer science, in ABET-accredited programs. One application considers you for every SWE scholarship you’re eligible for — you don’t submit separately to each. SWE has also expanded internationally, now supporting students in Washington Accord-accredited engineering programs in India.
Google Women Techmakers — funds technology students with a scholarship award alongside mentorship and conference attendance, aimed at building long-term community alongside the financial support.
AAUW International Fellowships — the American Association of University Women’s international track offers funding up to $50,000 for women from any country pursuing a STEM Master’s degree, with particular focus on fields where female participation remains low, including engineering, technology, and mathematics. This is one of the few major programs genuinely open globally rather than restricted to US citizens or residents — worth prioritizing if you’re applying from outside the US.
Microsoft — runs scholarship initiatives specifically for women in technology and engineering fields, though the exact program name, focus area, and award amount are restructured periodically across different Microsoft scholarship tracks. Confirm the current, exact offering directly on Microsoft’s official scholarship page rather than trusting a specific figure from a third-party list, since this is one area where outdated information circulates widely.
Women in engineering scholarships
Engineering-specific funding overlaps significantly with the technology cluster above — SWE is the anchor program for both — but a few additional routes are engineering-specific:
Hertz Foundation — grants and scholarships for women in applied physical, biological, and engineering sciences. Note: this program requires US citizenship, so it isn’t accessible to international applicants despite frequently appearing on global scholarship lists.
University-specific engineering scholarships — several major research universities maintain substantial internal funding specifically for women in engineering and computer science programs, often with less competition than national-level awards since eligibility is limited to current or admitted students at that specific institution. Check your target university’s engineering department directly, not just its general financial aid office, since these awards are frequently administered departmentally.
General STEM Scholarships and Grants (Not Gender-Specific)
If a women-specific programme doesn’t fit your exact situation — wrong field, wrong country, or you simply want to widen your options — general STEM funding is worth pursuing in parallel rather than instead. This typically comes through three channels: government-funded STEM initiatives (often tied to national priority fields like AI, clean energy, or advanced manufacturing), university-wide STEM scholarships open to all genders, and professional society awards (IEEE, ACM, and similar bodies) that fund students broadly within their discipline rather than by gender. None of these should replace a genuine search for gender-specific funding if you’re eligible — but they’re a legitimate parallel track, especially at the undergraduate level where dedicated women-specific stem scholarships is comparatively thinner than at graduate level.
Application Timeline for Scholarships for Women in STEM: A Realistic Schedule
STEM scholarships cycles, especially the larger named programs, reward early preparation more than almost any other scholarship category, since technical portfolios and research proposals take genuine time to develop properly.
9-12 months before your target deadline — Identify 4-6 programs across both gender-specific and general STEM funding, matching your field, level, and country of eligibility. If you’re targeting L’Oréal-UNESCO or a similar research fellowship, begin developing your specific research proposal now, not closer to the deadline.
4-6 months before — Build or finalize the technical evidence that will strengthen your application — a completed project, a paper in progress, a hackathon result, or research output. This is the single highest-leverage use of your preparation time for STEM-specific programs, more so than in most other scholarship categories.
2-3 months before — Approach recommenders who can speak specifically to your technical work, not just your general character. A recommender who supervised your actual research or project output carries more weight in STEM selection than a more senior name who knows you less well.
4-6 weeks before — Draft and revise your personal statement or research proposal. For fellowship-level programs like L’Oréal-UNESCO, this document is genuinely the centerpiece of your application — treat it accordingly rather than as a formality alongside the “real” technical work.
Submission window — Submit at least a few days before the deadline, not on the day itself. Portals for competitive, limited-award programs frequently experience technical issues in the final hours, and late submissions are almost never accepted regardless of the reason.
A Real Caution Worth Reading Before You Apply
Not every “women in tech scholarship” circulating online is genuine. At least one recent guide flagged specific regional programs — including ones attributed to major names like Microsoft — that could not be confirmed through any official source. If you find a scholarship listed on a third-party site that you can’t independently verify on the sponsoring organization’s own official page, treat it with real caution before investing weeks in an application. This is a documented, ongoing problem in the women-in-STEM scholarship space specifically, not a hypothetical risk.
Field-Specific Options Worth Checking Directly
Beyond the major named programs above, several professional bodies and companies run smaller, discipline-specific awards worth checking if your field is narrower than general “technology” or “engineering”:
- Computing and computer science — AnitaB.org and IEEE Computer Society both maintain scholarship and grant listings specifically for women in computing fields, updated as programs open and close.
- Physical sciences — beyond Hertz Foundation (US-only), several national physics and chemistry societies run smaller regional awards for women in the physical sciences — worth a direct search on your specific national society’s site.
- Corporate-sponsored, field-specific tracks — technology companies beyond Google and Microsoft (including major cloud, semiconductor, and telecommunications firms) periodically run narrower scholarship tracks tied to specific technical fields — these tend to have lower competition than the flagship company-wide programs precisely because they’re less publicized, so it’s worth checking a target company’s own diversity and inclusion page directly rather than relying only on aggregator lists.
How to Strengthen Your Application
- Start 6-12 months ahead. Strong essays and references genuinely take time to develop, not just to write.
- Show your work, not just your grades. A completed project, hackathon entry, or piece of research tells a selection committee more than a transcript alone — this matters more in STEM applications than in most other fields.
- Apply broadly. Successful applicants typically apply to five or more scholarships in a cycle rather than concentrating on one.
- Choose recommenders who know your technical work specifically, not just someone senior with a big title who barely knows your output.
- Verify every program against its official source before applying, given how much unverifiable content circulates in this specific niche.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Confusing L’Oréal’s science fellowship with its corporate internship programs. They’re entirely separate, run by different parts of the company, with different purposes.
- Assuming every listed scholarship is genuinely open internationally. Hertz Foundation, for instance, is US-citizens-only despite appearing on global lists.
- Trusting a specific dollar figure from an aggregator without confirming it on the sponsor’s own page. Several major programs (Microsoft especially) restructure their offerings periodically.
- Applying to only one program. With most individual awards limited in number, a single application is a low-probability strategy compared to applying broadly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between the L’Oréal fellowship and a L’Oréal internship?
The L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science fellowship funds PhD and post-doctoral research in STEM fields. L’Oréal’s internships (including marketing and summer internship programs) are unrelated general corporate roles run by a different part of the company — not STEM-focused or research-based.
Is the L’Oréal-UNESCO fellowship open to South African researchers now?
Yes. As of the 2026 programme merger, all 49 sub-Saharan African countries including South Africa fall under one unified regional programme — the previous exclusion no longer applies.
Which scholarship for women in STEM is the most substantial?
The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) awards the largest total volume — over $1.5 million annually across more than 330 individual scholarships — though the L’Oréal-UNESCO fellowship offers larger individual awards (up to €15,000) for doctoral and post-doctoral researchers specifically.
Are these scholarships only for US or European students?
No, though eligibility varies significantly by program. AAUW International Fellowships and SWE’s India expansion are genuinely global or multi-country; Hertz Foundation is US-citizens-only. Always check the specific eligibility for your country before applying.
Do I need to already be in a PhD program to apply for women-in-STEM funding?
No — funding exists across levels, from undergraduate (SWE, university-specific awards) through doctoral and post-doctoral (L’Oréal-UNESCO). Undergraduate-level dedicated funding is comparatively thinner than graduate-level, so general STEM scholarships are worth pursuing alongside gender-specific ones at that stage.
How do I know if a “women in tech scholarship” I found online is real?
Confirm it directly on the sponsoring organization’s own official website. Multiple regional and company-attributed scholarships circulating on third-party sites have been found unverifiable against any official source — this is a documented issue in this specific space.
Can I apply for multiple women-in-STEM scholarships in the same year?
Yes, and it’s the recommended strategy — most successful applicants apply to five or more programs in a single cycle rather than relying on one.
Does Microsoft still offer a specific women-in-technology scholarship?
Microsoft runs scholarship initiatives for women in tech and engineering, but the specific program name, focus, and amount change periodically across different tracks — confirm the current offering directly on Microsoft’s official scholarship page rather than an older listing.
Related Reading
This page connects to our broader Scholarships for African Women guide, which covers the L’Oréal-UNESCO fellowship, OWSD, and other Africa-specific women’s funding in full detail, and our Pan-African Leadership & Fellowship hub for the wider set of continent-focused opportunities. Strengthen your application with our guides to writing a recommendation letter for a scholarship and a personal statement for scholarship applications.
Women-in-STEM scholarships is genuinely substantial and growing — but this exact niche also attracts more unverifiable third-party content than most scholarship categories. Confirm every program directly against its sponsor’s own official page before building an application timeline around it, and apply broadly rather than betting on a single program.