The University of Leeds is offering scholarships for students to study data science-related Masters courses, which will help increase diversity and improve skill gaps in the digital workforce.
Applications are now open for 18 scholarships to study three data science-related Masters courses in the 2023-24 academic year, following the university’s successful bid for funding from the Office for Students (OfS).
The scheme aims to encourage more women, black students, disabled students and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds into data science and AI industries.
A report from Ipsos Mori has emphasised that the current workforce in AI and data science is not representative of the wider population. Over half (53%) of the AI-related firms surveyed said none of their employees were female and 40% had no employees from an ethnic minority background.
Funding for the scholarships comes from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and Office for Artificial Intelligence (OAI).
Professor Paul Baxter, Director of Education and Training at Leeds Institute for Data Analytics (LIDA), said: “Recruiting and supporting students that are representative of the wider community is really important for the future data science workforce. By working together through Leeds Institute for Data Analytics, we have been able to secure masters scholarships for underrepresented groups across three data science-related MSc programmes at Leeds.”
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