Given the high quality of applicants this year, MasterCard has decided to award its MasterCard MBA Scholarships for Women 2013 to four Singapore Management University (SMU) MBA students, instead of two, which it had originally intended under an agreement with the University.

Liliia Shamsutdinova (Russia), Marie-Adelaide Mol (France), Ritika Sharma (India) and Sharon Phoon (Malaysia) were the four honoured (and happy!) recipients of the Scholarship.  They had stood out due to their outstanding academic performance, strong leadership potential, as well as active participation in the community.

The Scholarship, valued at S$20,000 each, presents an opportunity for awardees to be able to better manage their academic and community commitments, and also develops them into academically outstanding, business savvy and socially responsible women.  All four MBA students will also get an internship opportunity with MasterCard.

Dr Philip Zerrillo, SMU’s Dean, Postgraduate Professional Programmes said, “Diversity is something we embrace, and is a key feature of the SMU MBA.  In fact, the Class of 2013 is our most diverse to-date, with participants representing as many as 16 nationalities around the world.  Additionally, 42 per cent of the class are women.  Such gender diversity, along with diversity in professional background and nationality, enhance our MBA programme, and lay the foundation for dynamic and lively discourse in the classroom.”

MBA student Marie-Adelaide Mol was honoured and grateful.  She said, “From a young age, I have been passionate about the environment and was actively involved in sustainability initiatives at the company that I worked for prior to taking the SMU MBA.  I hope to inspire others to get involved in the sustainability arena and look forward to contributing to MasterCard’s global initiatives. Through my experience, I have learnt that when it comes to social responsibility, even small actions can make a big difference.”

Georgette Tan, Group Head, Communications, Asia/Pacific, Middle East & Africa, MasterCard Worldwide, said, “Women have the potential to be force multipliers, not just in business but also in their communities.  As MasterCard’s recent research on women’s advancement shows, women are still missing from top jobs in business and government. So more must be done to ensure that women are enabled to overcome the barriers that prevent access to job opportunities and leadership positions. Given that, MasterCard is extremely proud to help these women of calibre further advance their education, which can empower them to excel professionally and impact positively in their communities.”

“We are very grateful to MasterCard for the continuous support that they have been giving to our female students in the SMU MBA programme.  This MasterCard scholarship not only reaffirms their contributions to the community but also spurs them on to achieve excellence beyond their academic pursuits,” said Dr Zerrillo.

This is the third year that MasterCard has awarded the Scholarship to female students in the SMU MBA programme.  Four other SMU MBA students have been recognised in the last two years.  Among them, Akshita Goyal (Class of 2013) and Tanvi Sharma (Class of 2012) are currently working with MasterCard as a Management Trainee and Program Manager (Regional Issuer – B2B Marketing) respectively.