UPES celebrates 2020 as ‘Year of Women’s Empowerment’; will grant 25% scholarship to all girl students

Women account for 48 percent of India’s population, but have not been equal beneficiaries of the country’s rapid economic growth. The University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) believes that it’s imperative for educational institutions and boardrooms to reflect diversity and bring more women into the corporate fold. Lack of financial resources is one of the major reasons that prevents girl students from pursuing quality higher education and fulfilling their dreams. Towards this, UPES has initiated several women empowerment efforts – including offering a 25 percent scholarship exclusively for all female students in 2020.

Shakti leads the way

UPES has declared the year 2020 as the ‘Year of Women’s Empowerment’ and is launching Shakti, an initiative to impact, lead and advance the agenda of women’s empowerment by institutions of higher learning.

With the aim to encourage more female students to continue their higher education after Class XII, UPES has announced a 25 percent scholarship for the entire duration of the programme for all female students applying for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the academic year 2020. This initiative will provide a holistic atmosphere for girl students, and help academia make relevant interventions to develop and refine their professional and personal skill sets.

UPES is running several women-centric CSR programmes like Project Payal - promotion of education for the girl child; Project Samvedna - daycare for children of construction workers; Project Vikalp - skilling rural women towards economic empowerment; and Project Protsaahan - lending support to meritorious students from PYDS Academy of Learning, Purukul, among others.

UPES is one of the very few universities in India that runs a formal leadership training under Shakti, for its women faculty and staff members. The year-long, module-based programme is aimed at propelling women employees to leadership roles by combining their intrinsic qualities with the right skills and knowledge. UPES plans to open up this programme to other corporates in the near future.

Fast-tracking a woman’s journey to the boardroom

The launch event for Shakti will take place on February 4, 2020 from 10 AM to 2:30 PM at the Hotel Ashoka, New Delhi. With the theme ‘Accelerating the gender equality journey: Empowering women from classroom to boardroom’, the event will bring together changemakers from the government, industry and academia to further the agenda of women's empowerment by institutions of higher learning.

Commenting on this initiative, Dr. Deependra Kumar Jha, Vice-Chancellor, UPES, said, “Education across levels is the best form of empowerment that can be extended to women to positively impact the state of their being, their status and position in personal and professional settings. With the year 2020 being the ‘Year of Women’s Empowerment’ for us at UPES, the scholarships are a step towards promoting diversity and inclusion and encourage girls to pursue higher education. We are positive that it will contribute to the on-going efforts by organisations across the globe to have a greater number of women in boardrooms and leadership roles.”

What’s in store at the launch event?

The welcome address will be delivered by Sharad Mehra, Chairman, Hydrocarbons Education and Research Society. The event will also showcase the CSR initiatives by UPES that are women-centric, and Shakti will formally be launched.

So, what are you waiting for? Join the endeavour to help accelerate the journey of women from the classroom to the boardroom. Register now!