Progress Grants Its First Women in STEM Scholarship in India and Opens U.S. Scholarship Application Process

The Progress Women in STEM Scholarship Series supports a new global generation of extraordinary women leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics

BEDFORD, Mass., Jan. 31, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --  Progress (NASDAQ: PRGS), the leading provider of products to develop, deploy and manage high-impact applications, today announced the first recipient of the Progress Software Akanksha Scholarship for Women in STEM. Announced in June 2021, the scholarship is a four‐year renewable scholarship for Indian citizens who identify as women, pursuing an undergraduate degree in computer science, software engineering, IT and/or computer information systems. Progress also announced that applications are now open for the 2022 Progress Software Mary Székely Scholarship for Women in STEM in the United States.

“Leading businesses understand that diversity is essential to a company’s success. It introduces new perspectives and spurs innovation and creativity. At Progress, we recognize the business imperative of investing in young women who are passionate about tech and who can advance the field with their unique skillsets and experiences,” said Yogesh Gupta, CEO, Progress. “I am proud that Progress, with this scholarship series, will encourage more women to pursue STEM and help eliminate the gender gap in the field.”

Progress Software Akanksha Scholarship for Women in STEM in India Recipient
The Progress Software Akanksha Scholarship for Women in STEM is a four‐year renewable scholarship to cover tuition, fees and educational expenses for Indian citizens who identify as women that want to study computer science, software engineering, IT and/or computer information systems. Progress is dedicated to proactively supporting the communities in which its employees live and work and to emphasizing inclusivity in its business practices. With an employee population in India of nearly 400, establishing a STEM scholarship for Women was a priority for the organization.

Akhila Karanam, the first recipient of the scholarship, is a second-year student at Keshav Memorial Institute of Technology, Bhopal, India. She was selected from a pool of highly qualified candidates, based on her outstanding academic achievements and personal qualities that exemplify courage, conscientiousness, resilience and excellence.

“I am deeply honored to be the first to receive this scholarship. It will help me pursue my studies, develop my computer science and engineering skills, and to work towards my dream of starting my own business,” said Karanam. “Progress is clearly demonstrating that it cares about promoting women in the field of technology. I hope to see more companies like Progress taking the initiative to support young talent in the future. Computer science is a great field for professional development, and I will do my best to take full advantage of the opportunity Progress has presented me.”

Mary Székely Scholarship Call for Applications
Now in its third year, this U.S.-based scholarship was created to honor the late Mary Székely (pronounced: “See-kay”), Progress co-founder and lead software engineer for more than 30 years. The Progress Software Mary Székely Scholarship for Women in STEM is a four-year renewable scholarship to cover tuition, fees and educational expenses. To be eligible, candidates must be a resident of Massachusetts and identify as a woman. They must also plan to pursue or are currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in computer science, software engineering, IT and/or computer information systems. The scholarship recipient will be chosen based on academic achievement; interest and experience in computer science, software engineering, IT and/or computer information systems and must clearly demonstrate personal attributes that exemplify Mary Székely’s qualities.

Mary Székely was instrumental in developing Progress’ products and helping it grow into a trusted global provider of infrastructure software products. She led Progress’ early development efforts and had a profound impact on the success of the business. Mary was a true visionary with a deep love for math and science and was influential in the software industry at a time when women pursuing careers in STEM was rare. Mary passed away in June 2019 but left an indelible mark on the company and everyone who knew her.

Completed applications are due March 11, 2022, by 5 p.m. ET. The selected recipient will be notified in the spring and a public announcement will follow in June. More information about the Progress Software Women in STEM scholarship series can be found here. The Progress Software Mary Székely Scholarship for Women in STEM is managed through The Philanthropic Initiative (TPI) and the application for submission can be found here.

The Progress Software Women in STEM scholarship series is part of the Progress for Tomorrow Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program. To learn more about Progress for Tomorrow, click here. Explore career opportunities at www.progress.com/careers.

Additional Resources

• Follow Progress on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram
• Read the Progress blog

About Progress
Progress (NASDAQ: PRGS) provides the best products to develop, deploy and manage high-impact applications. Our comprehensive product stack is designed to make technology teams more productive, and we have a deep commitment to the developer community, both open source and commercial alike. With Progress, organizations can accelerate the creation and delivery of strategic business applications, automate the process by which apps are configured, deployed and scaled and make critical data and content more accessible and secure—leading to competitive differentiation and business success. Over 1,700 independent software vendors, 100,000+ enterprise customers and a three-million-strong developer community rely on Progress to power their applications. Learn about Progress at www.progress.com or +1-800-477-6473.

Progress and Progress Software are trademarks or registered trademarks of Progress Software Corporation and/or its subsidiaries or affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Any other names contained herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Press Contacts:
Kim Baker
Progress
+1 781-280-4000
pr@progress.com