New “Women in Engineering Scholarship” Available for Female Students at CAC
By Angela Askey, Executive Director Public Relations and Marketing
A new scholarship has been created at Central Arizona College to provide financial support for female students interested in engineering.
The “Women in Engineering Scholarship” was established by Dr. Armineh Noravian, Professor of Engineering, adjunct Professor of Anthropology and Applied Researcher at CAC and her husband John Kerns to help make engineering more equitable.
Since 2019, Dr. Noravian has been working at CAC as a full-time engineering faculty member. She stated, “My main goal when I started was to work with all my CAC colleagues to build a transfer engineering and computer science pathway for our Pinal County students. Today, I can say that we have accomplished that goal and have successfully developed the various support structures needed to help students have access to the needed courses and resources to get through their program at CAC and transfer to a 4-year to complete their bachelor’s degrees.” She added, “I believe that a rural community college like CAC is a metaphor for equity and access. However, engineering as a field is not so equitable. While women represent a little more than 50% of the U.S. population, they are less than 30% of engineering bachelor’s degree recipients. This means their voices are not heard in the identification of problems that plague our world or in the creation of their solutions.”
The “Women in Engineering Scholarship” is intended to encourage female students to complete their main engineering courses at CAC. Scholarships up to $1,500 will be awarded each academic year.
Funds will be applied after all other scholarships and funding and will only be paid to students after they successfully complete their engineering courses, not before.
Students interested in applying for the scholarship must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the online CAC Scholarship Application at centralaz.edu/scholarships. Additionally, applicants must have completed “Introduction to Engineering” with a B or better to show their commitment to the pathway and have a 3.0 GPA to qualify.
Armineh and John hope to increase the scholarship fund to help provide access to many more female students interested in an engineering field. This can be made possible through donations made to the CAC Foundation for the “Women in Engineering Scholarship.” Tax-deductible contributions can be made online at centralaz.edu/give. Donors may choose a gift amount and then select the “Women in Engineering Scholarship ” from the drop-down menu.
For additional information about supporting this or other scholarships please contact Craig Kurtz, Executive Director Institutional Development at (520) 494-5215 or craig.kurtz@centralaz.edu.
