Sony Online Entertainment is holding a competition to decide who gets a $10,000 tuition scholarship.

From the official site:

The official SOE G.I.R.L. — Gamers In Real Life — scholarship is the first of its kind with The Art Institutes to encourage students toward career paths in the creative and applied arts, ultimately resulting in the development of games that are more interesting for women to play.

[...]

The G.I.R.L. Scholarship will officially begin on April 1, 2008. In order to be eligible to participate, entrants must be a current student at one of The Art Institutes schools. Students are required to submit an in-game design, concept art and two essays. The deadline to enter is May 31, 2008. The winner will be announced on or about June 30, 2008.

One skilled student will win a $10,000 tuition scholarship towards his or her education at The Art Institutes school at which he or she is currently enrolled and a paid internship of up to ten (10) weeks at one of the Sony Online Entertainment studios (located in Austin, Denver, San Diego and Seattle). Entrants will be judged by a panel of industry professionals from SOE.

Since it’s so narrow — limited to only those currently enrolled at one of The Art Institutes schools — I’m not sure how effective it will be at promoting the stated goal. Still, it’s drawn a fair amount of PR and anything that raises awareness as to the barriers that women face when trying to enter the industry is good in my book.