65K+ female STEM students register to participate; benefits include prizes, scholarships, job opportunities and trainings

SOUTHBOROUGH, Mass., Feb. 28, 2023 -- Virtusa Corporation, a global provider of digital strategy, digital engineering and IT services and solutions, today announced its global campaign to close the gap in gender equity by hosting its Engineering Equity hackathon. The hackathon has over 65 thousand female students registered and is designed to spur innovation in tech solutions that advance equity while nurturing female talent.

Equity is about understanding unique requirements and providing the exact resources for a person to succeed

The hybrid event brings career support directly to female coders with built-in mentoring, job opportunities, scholarships and cloud and technology certifications during the learners' week. To cap off the events, Virtusa will host virtual panels and fireside chats with female leaders that will take place on International Women's Day on March 8.

The Engineering Equity hackathon aims to address and solve societal problems by encouraging participants to develop apps, platforms and programs based on four identified challenges. These include a chronic STEM subject gender gap at schools and universities, a shortage of female role models, the perception of technology careers for women and a lack of understanding of how technology can enable women to change the world.

"At Virtusa we believe that equity is about understanding unique requirements and providing the exact resources for a person to succeed," said Sundar Narayanan, Chief People Officer at Virtusa. "Women will never reach gender equity in the STEM field, unless we apply the same rigor to solving gender equity that we apply to the most challenging engineering problems. The Engineering Equity hackathon aims to do just that, providing a platform to create solutions and training for women by women."

Overall, more than 65 thousand women from 9 countries have applied for the Engineering Equity hackathon. The hackathon encourages talented women coders to take charge of their careers, while incorporating tech solutions to resolve gender equity issues.

Ahead of the hackathon, Virtusa will organize more than a week of hands-on learning from coding basics to understanding the challenges with gender equity in technology. This is an opportunity for participants to meet and speak with powerhouse female talent to gain exposure to global personalities and interests.

Throughout International Woman's Day on Wednesday, March 8, Virtusa will host panel discussions with leaders from AWS, Pega, Revature, and more. Inspiring women across technology will share their experiences and learnings on how to navigate the gender equity gap and how to succeed in an ever-evolving landscape.

A livestream of the panel discussions will be available on YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn.

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