I totally agree. At the previous company I worked for, we decided to sponsor a 3-year scholarship (paid directly to the student, not just covering fees) at a lo

I totally agree. At the previous company I worked for, we decided to sponsor a 3-year scholarship (paid directly to the student, not just covering fees) at a local uni that targeted high-school leavers from demographics that were underrepresented in both our company and the wider industry we were in (renewables/energy sector). Trying to hire more people from those demographics is futile if the candidates don't exist, so the idea was to encourage people to choose this pathway. The scholarship is for students who would choose a certain program/specialization relevant for our industry and includes a paid summer internship at our company after their 2nd or 3rd year of study. Having mentored some of these students when they were interns (capable and bright students with promising futures), they said that this scholarship helped them choose this career path whereas otherwise they may have just tried to get into tech like many others at that university. Note this was not in the USA but in New Zealand where we have a different colonial history we are reckoning with. The scholarship targeted women, Maori (our indigenous culture), and Pacific Islanders (a large ethnic minority in NZ). This less about meeting any ratios or quotas (we didn't have those), but rather we felt a distinct lack of e.g. Maori voices in our company and the industry which is a problem when you are frequently interacting with Maori stakeholders and landowners in energy project development (and indigenous relations and historical landonwership plays a large role in our consenting & planning process).