Career Choices for Young Women

Sohel Iqbal

Women should think over and make sense of life goals before communicating their thoughts  to make the most of opportunities available, a panel of succesful women told a group of young students at a discssion meeting in the city recently.
“I listen to the strong women, every word they say and take it in my head,” said visual artist Nazia Andaleeb Preema, one of the panellists at the discussion on ‘Career Choices for Young Women’, held at BRAC University (BRACU) on January 30.
“Always be strong with your intellect...put yourself out there...say I’m here, I’m a doer and I’m gonna do it and trust me it will happen,” Preema said, adding that working beyond comfort zones and being assertive helps reach goals.  
The discussion was jointly organised by HULTPrize@BRACU of BRAC Business School (BBS) and British Council Bangladesh. It was aimed at sharing thoughts and motivating the BRACU team that won one of the local rounds of the HULT Prize 2017 challenge.
The challenge, titled ‘Reawakening Human Potential’, is an initiative of the Hult Prize Foundation, a start-up accelerator for social business ideas of budding young entrepreneurs that awards USD 1 million to the winners as seed capital.
Preema, along with British journalist and documentary filmmaker Billie JD Porter, and British Council Bangladesh Arts Director Kendall Robbins started off the discussion by briefly sharing their life experiences on breaking social stigma.
Preema said Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus had offered her a consultancy job in 1997 while she was at Dhaka University’s fine arts faculty and she won a website designing contest, competing against 29 men.
Porter said she did not take the traditional route to journalism and she does not have a degree, but was working on documentary filmmaking, including a recent one on young people in China, and had the freedom to work as a freelancer with different companies.
She said life’s successes did not come easy and her decision to not study was controversial, garnering scepticism from her family, though the thought of bearing a student loan filled her with dread.
She said she decided using the internet to formulate her platform and, since she has always been into music, she had initially started working with event organisers which eventually helped her career later on.
Porter pointed out that gender inequality exists everywhere, that she had faced condescending comments from a lawmaker for her choice of clothes during an interview, and even one network she worked for had suggested she “deglamorise” her look to appear intelligent.
Robbins said her interest towards fashion was inspired by her mother and that she took up the challenge of using and facilitating the arts to change the world for the better. She suggested focussing on weak points and working on those to overcome difficulties.
She urged the young people to go out more and get engaged in different activities. She lauded the BRACU team’s courage to address core needs of females living in destitute circumstances.
Sharing her experience in training teachers around the country, Mahreen Mamoon of BBS said she was asked by a relative whether she stayed in hotels and she accepted the way society did not care about her skills.
“Do not feel demeaned...your job is to only go higher,” she told the students.
Photos: Courtesy

Career Choices for Young Women

Sohel Iqbal Women should think over and make sense of life goals before communicating their thoughts to make the most of opportunities available, a panel of succesful women told a group of young students at a discssion meeting in the city recently. I listen to the strong women, every word they say and take it in my head, said visual artist Nazia Andaleeb Preema, one of the panellists at the discussion on Career Choices for Young Women, held at BRAC University (BRACU) on January 30. Always be strong with your intellect...put yourself out there...say Im here, Im a doer and Im gonna do it and trust me it will happen, Preema said, adding that working beyond comfort zones and being assertive helps reach goals. The discussion was jointly organised by HULTPrize@BRACU of BRAC Business School (BBS) and British Council Bangladesh. It was aimed at sharing thoughts and motivating the BRACU team that won one of the local rounds of the HULT Prize 2017 challenge. The challenge, titled Reawakening Human Potential, is an initiative of the Hult Prize Foundation, a start-up accelerator for social business ideas of budding young entrepreneurs that awards USD 1 million to the winners as seed capital. Preema, along with British journalist and documentary filmmaker Billie JD Porter, and British Council Bangladesh Arts Director Kendall Robbins started off the discussion by briefly sharing their life experiences on breaking social stigma. Preema said Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus had offered her a consultancy job in 1997 while she was at Dhaka Universitys fine arts faculty and she won a website designing contest, competing against 29 men. Porter said she did not take the traditional route to journalism and she does not have a degree, but was working on documentary filmmaking, including a recent one on young people in China, and had the freedom to work as a freelancer with different companies. She said lifes successes did not come easy and her decision to not study was controversial, garnering scepticism from her family, though the thought of bearing a student loan filled her with dread. She said she decided using the internet to formulate her platform and, since she has always been into music, she had initially started working with event organisers which eventually helped her career later on. Porter pointed out that gender inequality exists everywhere, that she had faced condescending comments from a lawmaker for her choice of clothes during an interview, and even one network she worked for had suggested she deglamorise her look to appear intelligent. Robbins said her interest towards fashion was inspired by her mother and that she took up the challenge of using and facilitating the arts to change the world for the better. She suggested focussing on weak points and working on those to overcome difficulties. She urged the young people to go out more and get engaged in different activities. She lauded the BRACU teams courage to address core needs of females living in destitute circumstances. Sharing her experience in training teachers around the country, Mahreen Mamoon of BBS said she was asked by a relative whether she stayed in hotels and she accepted the way society did not care about her skills. Do not feel demeaned...your job is to only go higher, she told the students. Photos: Courtesy