Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship

Last year, I was lucky enough to be selected as one of the recipients of the Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship, open to women at university in Australia and New Zealand, aims to encourage us to excel in computing and technology. With applications now open for this year’s recipients, I wanted to share my experience as a past winner and encourage those eligible to apply.

During high school, I always felt like the odd one out. All I wanted to do was make websites and program, but none of my friends shared the same interests. Even classmates who were studying I.T. (and who were predominantly male) were interested only in the very basics of software development. At university, I was surrounded by more like-minded people, but being a female still made me the odd one out.

One of the biggest benefits of the Anita Borg Scholarship was the chance to meet other passionate women studying and working in the field. All finalists were invited on a retreat to Google Sydney’s engineering centre where we received professional development, career advice and mentoring. We heard from a panel of engineers about career options in industry and academia, tech talks on topics such as web accessibility and Programming Language Design, as well as lots of social activities and sightseeing around Sydney.

At the three-day event, I met so many other girls who were also following their dreams. It made me realise there were so many other people who shared the same aspirations, and that’s strengthened my self-esteem and motivation immensely.


The scholarship has given me incredible insight into the issues faced by women in computing, and helped me realise my own place as a role model for other girls. For me, I know that when someone asks me why I’m studying computer science, I can now point to some of the role models I’ve met from the scholarship and use them as women to look up to.

For further information on this scholarship and how to apply, you can visit www.google.com.au/anitaborg. Be quick because applications close 10 July 2012!

Posted by Sasha Bermeister, 2012 Google Anita Borg Scholarship Recipient.