Carola Pettinato, a second-year student studying on the Computer Games Development BSc Honours, was the recipient of one of the Generation Google Scholarships for women in gaming in the Europe, the Middle East and Africa regions.
The scholarship is part of a partnership between Generation Google and Stadia, Google’s new gaming platform. Their Scholarship Program has recently expanded to support students pursuing gaming degrees, with a mission to advance gender equality in gaming. Carola and other selected students will receive €7,000 for the 2021-22 academic year which is awarded based on the strength of each candidate’s impact on diversity, demonstrated leadership and their academic background.
Generation Google’s women in gaming scholarship helps aspiring students pursuing gaming degrees to further excel in technology and become leaders in the field. The award is given to students to spend on tuition, fees, books, supplies and equipment required for their classes to help them further progress in their studies.
Carola enrolled on the Computer Games Development BSc Honours course in 2020 to follow her passion of making video games and coding and applied for the Generation Google scholarship in December 2020. Her course Leader and personal tutor Markos Mentzelopoulos supported Carola in the application, granting a reference letter and providing advice throughout the process. In April 2021, she found out she was one of two UK recipients to receive the women in gaming scholarship.
Talking about the scholarship, Carola said: “In Italy, it is still a rarity to see women that want to break into the game industry. I will always stand for more inclusivity and diversity within the game industry and e-sport. I think it is crucially important that we need to believe in these values in order to build a better work environment and build better, more innovative games. Approximately 50% of the e-sports players are women but the number of women working in any role or competing in esports is around 5%. We need action for this.
“To me, this prize means so much and I cannot express my gratitude to Google as well as Westminster for this fantastic opportunity. It is a privilege and an honour to inspire more women to believe in their dreams, and dive into them. I dream one day to build strong community of women in my home town of Sicily who want to build a better future in games and support technology.”
Find out more about Computer Science and Engineering courses at the University of Westminster.
