The University of Westminster and Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) have announced the first nine recipients of their scholarship programme for Black students to support underrepresented groups in higher education.
The scholarships will primarily support students on courses in Westminster’s School of Computer Science and Engineering and will encourage students to consider and pursue careers in the entertainment, technology and gaming industry.
The nine students include a mix of undergraduate and postgraduate students who will benefit from the Level-Playing Field Scholarship supported by PlayStation Career Pathways Program, an SIE initiative, which will provide financial support to cover their tuition fees and living expenses.
Among the recipients is Abdulrahman Ibrahim, who is currently studying for a Masters in Cyber Security after completing his undergraduate degree at Westminster in Computer Science, which he was awarded a first in.
He said: “One thing that I learnt whilst studying here at Westminster, was to say yes to every opportunity. I've realised that with every opportunity there are many rewards that come with it. For example, during my second year of studies, I participated in the Westminster Working Culture (WWC) trip to Washington DC, I learnt many things whilst there and when I came back, my interest in traveling and exploring new cultures increased. For that reason, I decided to start the Travel Society at the University. I heard about this scholarship through my trip-leader on the WWC trip and shared the news on his Linkedin.”
Talking about the scholarship, he added: “The biggest thing this scholarship has helped me with, is that it has allowed me to completely reduce the hours I do at work. Without this scholarship, that would have meant that I had to work around 30 hours per week to be able to pay for maintenance, such as my travelcard that I use to get to campus. Not only has it helped me financially, I've been able to have many networking opportunities and meet Sony Interactive Entertainment representatives, which have been very beneficial.”
Another recipient of the scholarship is 22 year-old Zakariya Hashi who is originally from Somalia but moved to the United Kingdom he was 11.
He first discovered the scholarship on the University website and said he ‘was happy that there was a scholarship that was helping people from Black ethnic minorities backgrounds’.
Zakariya is currently studying an undergraduate in Computer Science and said about the course: “What interests me about this course is that it involves different subjects for mainly coding and how you can produce different content with coding, for example I can produce a mobile application for coding.
“There are also other subjects that are not coding that interest me and that’s Information Security Systems. I’m currently studying this as I am in my second year, and they are teaching me to hack ethically to see if there are any vulnerabilities in systems.”
The scholarship programme demonstrates the University of Westminster’s as well as Sony Interactive Entertainment’s commitment to Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion. Both the University and SIE are committed to providing opportunities and support to ensure that people from every background can realise their true potential.
The Level-Playing Field Scholarships will also award seven undergraduate students and three postgraduate students a combination of fee and living expense funding in the 2022/23 academic year.
The undergraduate scholarships will be available for first-year undergraduate students only, meaning that the grant will fund each undergraduate student for all three years of their undergraduate degree. For the postgraduate scholarships, each postgraduate student will be funded for one year of postgraduate study.
Find out more about the scholarships.
To find out how to establish a funded scholarship programme at Westminster, contact [email protected].
