Miranda Lambert launches scholarship fund for women

Country superstar Miranda Lambert is establishing a new scholarship at Nashville, Tennessee's Belmont University to help women pursue jobs in the entertainment industry.

The House That Built Me hitmaker wants to give females majoring in songwriting, entertainment industry studies or music business the opportunity to apply for the $40,000 scholarship, which will be offered for the 2016-17 school year.

In a statement, the singer reveals she wanted to launch the Miranda Lambert Women Creators Fund to "encourage and empower women to achieve their goals".

Lambert plans to use profits from her Tuesday night (28Jul15) acoustic show in Nashville to help cover the costs of the scholarship. The show features an all-girl line-up, including sets from Raelynn, Clare Dunn and Courtney Cole.

The concert will mark her first full gig since announcing her divorce from fellow country star Blake Shelton on 20 July (15).

Lambert made a brief appearance onstage in Nashville last Wednesday (22Jul15), when she surprised fans at fellow star Ashley Monroe's show to sing their collaboration, Heart Like Mine.