NEW YORK, October 12, 2021 — Barnard College announced today that the investment management firm Bridgewater Associates has funded a grant to launch the "New Pathways Powered by Bridgewater" initiative, 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.
To realize this goal, Barnard will recruit “New Pathways Bridgewater Scholars” and will partner with Bridgewater to provide the training, exposure, and opportunities required 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.
Mentoring support and focused engagement opportunities are planned for every phase of the scholars’ involvement in the program. Scholars will receive support for research at Barnard and for internship opportunities within the industry. Scholars will have Barnard mentors to advise both their research and applied industry engagement projects, as well as Bridgewater mentors focused on career and industry advising. Scholars will 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 will receive guaranteed funding for 10 weeks of paid internship experience, at Bridgewater or elsewhere in the industry.
The new partnership between Bridgewater and Barnard will not only benefit those who are selected into the Scholars program – it will also expand access to information and opportunities more broadly. Bridgewater-sponsored lectures and symposia will be open to all Barnard students and alumnae, in addition to faculty and staff at Barnard and Columbia University.
“This truly ambitious cohort-based program is modeled after our highly successful Science Pathways Scholars Program,” said Provost Linda A. Bell. “We see it as similar in its emphasis on first-generation and under-represented minority students, in its potential to expand and diversify the workforce pipeline in finance, tech, and other traditionally male-led sectors by breaking down barriers that have traditionally inhibited the career success of women. President Sian Leah Beilock added, "We're grateful to Bridgewater for selecting Barnard as its partner in our shared effort to diversify the investment industry."
Bridgewater CEO David McCormick shared that, “For our industry to continue to evolve - we need the best talent to choose careers in our field. Bridgewater is proud to join with Barnard – a historically women’s college – on an initiative designed to reduce barriers and expand opportunity in investing, and we look forward to building meaningful relationships with the scholars over the coming years.”
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About Barnard College
Barnard provides a singular educational experience, as a world-renowned college focused on excellence across the arts and sciences, with all the academic resources of Columbia University and the City of New York as an extended classroom. Founded in 1889, Barnard was one of the few colleges in the nation where women could receive the same rigorous and challenging education available to men. Today, Barnard is one of the most selective academic institutions in the country and remains devoted to empowering extraordinary women to become even more exceptional. For more information on Barnard College, contact Barnard Media Relations at mediarelations@barnard.edu. To learn more, follow Barnard on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
About Bridgewater Associates
Bridgewater Associates is a global leader in institutional portfolio management and the world’s largest hedge fund. Focused on understanding how the world’s markets and economies work by having the deepest possible understanding of the global economy and financial markets, the firm translates that understanding into expertly constructed portfolios and meaningful relationships with institutional clients. Having built a track record of success for more than 45 years, Bridgewater’s excellence is grounded in its distinct culture, which brings together great people and enables them to operate in a culture of radical truth and radical transparency. In recognition of the firm’s commitment to excellence, its clients, and the magnitude of its impact on the investment industry, Bridgewater has received more than 70 industry awards in the past 10 years including recognitions for innovation, performance, quality of research, client satisfaction, and being a top place to work. Fortune named it the fifth most important private company in the US.
Based in Westport, Connecticut, Bridgewater manages approximately $150 billion in assets for the world’s largest and most sophisticated institutional investors, including public and corporate pension funds, university endowments, charitable foundations, supranational agencies, foreign governments, and central banks. For more information, please visit www.bridgewater.com.