FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. -

Hyundai Motor America chief marketing officer Angela Zepeda says Hyundai understands that “building a better future starts with investing in the young women inventing it today.”

That is evident as Hyundai introduced a new program to celebrate International Women’s Day. The Hyundai Women in STEM Scholarship seeks to help the next generation of women leaders by working to close the gender gap in engineering, mobility and autonomous driving fields.

Hyundai is looking to award female students interested in pursuing an education and career in those disciplines.

Five female STEM students will receive a scholarship in the amount of $10,000 each.

“We hope this scholarship program helps funnel more women into the STEM fields, resulting in a significant impact to the gender gap that still exists today,” Zepeda said in a news release.

Participants must be high school seniors or undergraduate students who are female.

They must reside in the United States and seek to pursue a STEM-related field of education.

To apply for the award, eligible students must write an essay of 500 words or more on why they chose to pursue a STEM-related field and what drives them to be better.

Applications are open until June 30. For more information, visit www.tun.com/blog/hyundai-women-in-stem-scholarship/