New Pathways Bridgewater Scholars Program
In Fall 2021, Barnard College announced a new partnership with Bridgewater Associates, which will unfold over six years and provide financial support for young women pursuing academic study in economics, math, statistics, and computer science, with the goal of encouraging more women to enter the investment industry through time. The New Pathways Bridgewater Scholars Program now provides the training, exposure, and opportunities required for students to become workforce leaders in critical sectors of the labor market where women are underrepresented. This initiative will reflect the diversity of the Barnard student body, which is currently 41% students of color.
The program provides access to a range of mentorship opportunities (including at Barnard and at Bridgewater Associates), along with funding to support research and internships. The program is open to incoming First Year students at Barnard College who express interest in conducting research in the fields of economics, math, statistics, and computer science at the time of their application to the College. They apply as part of their application process to Barnard.
Questions about how to apply can be sent to admissions@barnard.edu.
Mentoring support and focused engagement opportunities are planned for every phase of the scholars' involvement in the program. Scholars receive support for research at Barnard and for internship opportunities within the industry. Scholars have Barnard mentors to advise both their research and applied industry engagement projects, as well as Bridgewater mentors focused on career and industry advising. They benefit from networking and industry-focused talks and workshops provided by Bridgewater, and the guidance and support of other students in their scholar's cohort throughout their time at Barnard.
Core benefits of being a Bridgewater Scholar include the opportunity to participate, for at least one summer following their sophomore year, in a fully-funded 10-week program of paid summer research with a faculty member in a project that uses statistical, computational, and econometric tools of data analysis. In the summer of the Bridgewater Scholars' junior year, students receive guaranteed funding for 10 weeks of paid internship experience, at Bridgewater or elsewhere in the industry.
Students applying to Barnard College who express interest in research in economics, computer science, statistics, and mathematics are eligible to apply for the Bridgewater Scholars Program.