CREDIT: PROVIDED BY TBK CREATIVE
London-based marketing agency, tbk Creative, offers women entering the interactive media design program at Fanshawe a scholarship valued up to $6,000.

A London marketing agency, tbk Creative, announced a new scholarship that will be provided to incoming first year female students of Fanshawe's interactive media design program.

According to the agency's March 27 press release, the Women in Tech scholarship aims to encourage more women to become software developers. It is valued at approximately $6,000 for two semesters, a full year's tuition.

Andrew Schiestel, President of tbk Creative, said that the agency has had a relationship with Fanshawe for over a decade.

“We have enrolled many students from the post graduate public relations & corporate communications program over the years and tbk has hired many students from a variety of Fanshawe's programs including business marketing, BAM [business administration - marketing], interactive media design, honors bachelor of commerce (digital marketing) and others,” Schiestel said.

According to Schiestel, there was a specific reason why the scholarship will be for students going into the interactive media design program.

“Several of tbk's employees are graduates of Fanshawe's interactive media design program, so to choose this program made perfect sense to us,” Schiestel said.

According to the press release, one criteria for the scholarship is that the recipient demonstrate involvement in a technology project in their high school career.

“The scholarship is for female students who are entering into the first year of Fanshawe's interactive media design program, have at least a 85 per cent grad point average [GPA] in their last year of high school and can demonstrate a technology project that they were involved with during high school,” Schiestel said.

Schiestel said that a scholarship of this kind is important in developing our economy.

“There is already a deficit where there isn't enough software developers in Canada and this gap is expected to increase,” Schiestel said. “If more women pursue careers in technology, they'll have good successes with being gainfully employed, it'll provide more talented workers to Canada's technology companies, which will in turn improve Canada's economy.”

According to the press release, tbk is focused on closing gender imbalance in the digital workforce.

“Tbk is 50 per cent owned by women, over 50 per cent managed by women, and for most of the last several years, has been around 50 per cent employed by women,” Schiestel said.

Schiestel said that tbk Creative has had incredible success in previous years with hiring newly graduated Fanshawe students and hiring current students as interns.

“If more students consider tbk as a great employer for themselves once they graduate, and this leads to more applications, then that's great,” Schiestel said. “With that said, whether graduates apply at tbk or elsewhere, we all win if more women become software developers.”

Tbk Creative's women in tech scholarship applies for the fall 2019 intake year at Fanshawe. To apply, visit fanshawec.academicworks.com or email studentawards@nullfanshawec.ca to get more information.