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Influenster, the leading product discovery and ratings and reviews platform, with 30 million+ authentic product reviews written by 5MM+ members, today announced that its third Women in STEM Scholarship Program is accepting applications, from now until March 1, 2019.

With scholarship sponsorship from United Charitable Programs, Influenster will award five outstanding female students, pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree in a STEM field of study, a $1,000 academic scholarship to help support their education and future career aspirations.

“When I co-founded Influenster eight years ago, the conversation about increasing representation for women in tech was really heating up,” says Elizabeth Scherle, President and Co-founder of Influenster. “My background was in sales and marketing, but I was inspired by the potential of technological solutions to help collect insights that would more seamlessly connect consumers and brands. The company has since grown tremendously, and I’ve learned so much along the way, that I want to encourage and inspire the next generation of female leaders in STEM-related fields. We’ve made progress since 2010, but there’s still a long way to go!”

• Data published by the National Center for Women in Technology indicates that, in 2017, only 26 percent of the computing workforce was comprised of women
• As reported by the New York Times in November 2018, as discussed at the 2018 Global Women’s Forum in Paris, fewer than 10 percent of app founders are female, and the percentage of women founders of innovative start-ups hovers at 10 percent
• According to a March 2018 report published by the National Girls Collaborative Project, 81 percent of students pursuing a bachelor’s degree in engineering are men, and only 19 percent women; in computer sciences, it’s 82 percent men and 18 percent women.
• The same report also shows that, while disparities in the total workforce have lessened between women and men, they still exist in the science and engineering workforce, comprised of 28 percent women and 72 percent men.

Today, across Influenster’s tech team — which includes roles like software engineers, product developers, UX/UI designers, and data analysts — boasts 37 percent female employees, beating the national average. And, since its beginnings, the company has grown significantly, housing expansive content for more than 2.5MM products; enabling members to scan products via an app, post photo and video reviews, ask and answer questions, and social network with one another; and launching a tool called ReviewSource that gives brands the ability to seamlessly sync reviews left on Influenster to their brand and retail sites.

As Influenster continues to innovate under Elizabeth’s leadership, the scholarship provides a means to help improve increase the representation of women in STEM for future generations. To qualify, the applicant must:

• Identify as a female
• Be a freshman, sophomore, or junior undergraduate or graduate student enrolled full-time in an accredited U.S. college/university as of Spring 2019 semester. (Must be a full-time student to be eligible)
• Major in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Math (STEM) field
• Have a minimum 3.40 cumulative GPA (will not be rounded) on 4.0 grade scale
• Attach a valid resume and college transcript as proof of enrollment
• Complete the Influenster application including the written essay topic:
• What inspired you to pursue a STEM career? What do you plan to do in your career and why? What are your ideas to bring more women to the STEM field?
• Be lawfully authorized to work on a full-time basis in the United States without any form of sponsorship
• Not have been a past Influenster scholarship recipient.

Each scholarship is worth $1,000 and can be used to pay for tuition and/or school expenses. United Charitable Programs is a proud fiscal sponsor of the scholarship program.

For more information about the scholarship visit: www.influenster.com/scholarship