Making strides for Bangladesh’s women in engineering

Syed Sadia Hossain. Photo: Courtesy

Syed Sadia Hossain is the first Bangladeshi to receive the Inspiring Women in Engineering Student Member of the Year Award by the Global Committee of Women in Engineering. 
 

The award recognises women who have made an impact in their communities to ensure gender equality in technical disciplines. Sadia arranged over 15 different events, workshops, and outreach programmes to promote women empowerment and address humanitarian issues while she was the Chairperson of the IEEE Women in Engineering Affinity Group at Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP).

One of the events she arranged was WEAVE, which equipped students with important entrepreneurial and technical skills so they are better prepared for their future careers. MasterTacts, another event, instilled competence and confidence in students by offering grooming sessions, CV writing tutorials, and interview tests.

Sadia also recently won the 6th Inspiring Women Award in the category "Leaders of Tomorrow", after being one of five students who were nominated by her university. The nominees were judged on the basis of their cumulative contributions to the corporate sector and society as a whole. The Inspiring Women Award by Women in Leadership recognises leaders of tomorrow, inspiring female professionals, and changemakers of Bangladesh.

"My friends identified the leadership potential in me and always encouraged me to lead teams. Once I started working, I noticed that women were mostly invested in academics. It made me question why women were not leading teams or becoming presidents of student clubs. When the Women in Engineering Affinity Group in my university commenced in 2019, I tried to motivate women to take leadership roles," shared Sadia.

"Even when women succeed, there's a stereotype that they need help from others. I have faced this personally, but I was able to overcome it. There is also a notion that women are only fit to be doctors or teachers, rather than having careers in technology. I want to keep working to dismantle the barriers and biases that stand in the way of women's success in STEM, and as future leaders."

Sadia is an Information and Communication Technology graduate from BUP. She is currently a junior program associate at the international NGO Wadhwani Foundation. At work, she intends to shape the youth for the 21st century's employability challenges by facilitating their vocational skills.

The author is a student of BRAC University, and a freelance journalist. Email: shanzaychowdhury@gmail.com.