Evertec awards 135 scholarships to STEM students in P.R./LatAm
Evertec Inc. has awarded 135 scholarships to outstanding students from Puerto Rico and Latin America. In the past five years, Evertec has granted more than $500,000 in scholarships to students who are pursuing bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees at more than 25 universities.
The Evertec Scholarship Program, which is now celebrating its fifth anniversary, supports the current and future workforce in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) industries by providing assistance and financial aid to undergraduate and graduate students.
“We’re proud to support our future professionals and entrepreneurs, mainly in the STEM industry, which offers great opportunities and possibilities for today’s workforce and yields tremendous impact for the communities we serve,” said Evertec CEO Mac Schuessler.
“The scholarship program eases the financial burden for students so they can focus on their studies, develop their skills, and reach their goals,” he said.
As part of its efforts to foster inclusion and equality, Evertec also announced an initiative with the purpose of increasing women applicants to its scholarship program.
This initiative will include various female leaders from the STEM industry in Puerto Rico, including Greetchen Díaz, scientist and Program Director at Ciencia Puerto Rico; Patricia Ordoñez, Associate Professor of Computer Sciences at the University of Puerto Rico; and Sofía Stolberg, CEO of Piloto 151.
In 2019, the ratio of applications from male students compared to that from female students was 3 to 1.
Díaz was recently selected, along with 125 other women who work in science across the U.S. and the Caribbean, as ambassador for the American Association for the Advancement of Science with the objective of motivating the next generation of women in STEM.
“It is extremely important that the private sector help create the right conditions so that more girls and women take an interest in STEM careers through initiatives such as this one, providing greater visibility for them to serve as role models for future innovators,” said Díaz.
