Acceptance Speech: 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australians Awards

I was almost about to leave for the Melbourne City to attend the Asian-Australian Summit at State Library Victoria, on the morning of 12th September 2019, when I received the call from Jason Johnson, who is the Managing Director of executive search firm Johnson, and one of eight judges ahead of the Asian-Australian Leadership Summit for selecting the finalists for the inaugural 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australians Awards. I knew by then I was one of the finalists but was not aware of being the overall winner and also that I was expected to give an acceptance speech at the Gala Dinner in front of a room of around 200 guests, that included so many distinguished guests from Industry, Government, Media and Academia.

The initial panic was soon over, a huge thanks to my one-year-long media and public speaking training of the "Superstars of STEM" program by Science and Technology Australia. I was going to attend the NextGen summit on that day and was very keen to listen to the talks and panel discussion. But at the back of my mind, I kept thinking what would exactly I say. It was only a couple of hours before the start of the ceremony I finally wrote a few points for me. There was so much on my mind, a lot of it very emotional recount of my life journey, I was not sure if I was ready to say it out loud. I had to say everything in around 3 minutes and I tried to keep it as short as possible and yet I had to convey to the audience why I came to Australia, and what it took for me to do from there, to become the winner that night.

It was quite an emotional moment for me while being on the stage as I was very overwhelmed by the honour. After the acceptance speech so many people asked me for the written form, well there wasn't any. There was a camera recording the speech, but that will only show what I could say in that emotional state. So I decided to write it down before I forget it. Here is the extended version of my acceptance speech with some elaboration to the personal story, for all those who asked.

Breaking the "Concrete Ceiling"

Thank you so much Asia Link, PwC, and Australian National University for this great initiative, and for giving us all the opportunity to demonstrate and celebrate the diversity and talent of Asian-Australian leadership.

Today, throughout the day, I heard about two types of ceilings; Glass ceiling and Bamboo ceiling. Let me add another one to this list, a ceiling made out of Concrete, that I have seen to exist for Pashtun women. It cannot be smashed like glass or broken down like a Bamboo, it can only be blasted apart. Whenever I mention my ethnicity to others, most of the time I get puzzled looks in return; who are Pashtuns? My ready to go answer is, do you know Malala Yousafzai, and I have never heard no for this question. Yes, she is a Pashtun girl with a world-wide famous story and the youngest recipient of the Nobel Prize.

I didn't have to face the cultural adversaries like her, but my mother who grew up in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, the north-west province of Pakistan, was denied education only because of her gender. My father on the hand, also a Pashtun man, was able to travel to North America and had access to the higher education back in the 60s. Both my parents moved to the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad, where I was born and raised. I am the youngest and the fifth child, and the only sister of four elder brothers. My parents raised me as equal to my brothers in every aspect including education. But my father made it clear to me at a very young age that unlike my brothers, my education was a privilege, that was denied to the previous generation of women in my family and to a significant number of Pashtun girls even in my age.

I valued my education and decided that I will go all the way to a PhD in a male-dominated field. I did my Bachelors and Masters in Computer Science in Pakistan and seven years ago, I came to Australia to pursue my PhD in Software Engineering at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). One of my brothers accompanied me for moral support, but he had to leave after a week. It was only then the reality hit me in the face. I had never lived without my family before. Not only that I had no family in Australia, but also there was not a single person in this whole country I could call as 'my friend'. I tried to be as brave as I could for my brother at the time of goodbye, who was catching a train at Central Station in Sydney for the airport. When he left, I came outside the central station and sat down on the stairs and cried like a child, who has just lost her family in the crowd of strangers.

The fact that I was at the train station at rush hour, the huge crowd of strangers was making it worse for me. I started to walk towards the university. I could see the Tower building of UTS all the way from the station. That Tower fondly referred to as the 'ugliest tower of Sydney', is not only beautiful to me but also symbolises a special meaning for me. That day when I looked at it, it made me realise that there is, after all, one place in Sydney that I can call as mine. My University! I belonged to an educational institute, and at that moment, I was brought back to my sense of purpose, why I left the comfort of my home and came to Australia. My first sense of belongingness in this country, while still being an international student, was my university. That's where I not only did my academic research, excelled in my field, learnt and grew but also made life-lasting new friends including my PhD supervisor Professor Didar Zowghi.

Three years later I graduated with a PhD in Software Engineering and broke my concrete ceiling as a Pashtun woman. I could see some other graduating students worried about life after PhD, but I was no longer afraid of the future. My PhD was not a pursuit of a degree in the form of a piece of paper, it was a transformational journey of my life towards empowerment. That day I felt this enormous sense of achievement, resilience and fearlessness, so much so that I knew there never ever is going to be any ceiling, glass or bamboo, that I am not capable of bringing down, for I am the breaker of my "concrete ceiling".

Last year, I raised my hand to become one of the Superstars of STEM as it is now time to show other women like me on how to cross the psychological boundaries and break the stereotypes. I grew up without a sister, and today, there is not a single city in Australia where I don't have a sister. I have 59 amazing sisters, Superstars of STEM all over the country.

In the NextGen summit, the first panel was about "You can't be what you can't see!", well I did not see a single Pashtun man or a woman throughout the summit or currently in this room. A glass ceiling allows you to see through it, you just can't move up. The bamboo ceiling, allows you to hear what is happening on the other side, even if you can't see it. A concrete ceiling would not let you perceive any reality behind that confinement. What do you do then?

Well just because you can't see, does not mean you can't dream, and once you have a dream, it's your choice how hard you will work to turn it into reality regardless of the odds. I came to Australia as an immigrant, single, Muslim, Pashtun woman from Pakistan, and each of these identifiers is a barrier that reinforces and enhances the others in a vicious cycle. Yet, here I am today, with a PhD in Software Engineering, an academic at Swinburne University, a superstar of STEM and from tonight onwards, winner of the 40 under 40 most influential Asian-Australian leadership award.

This award is a huge honour and a giant leap for me in my commitment to inspire the next generation of women in science and technology. Thank you, everyone, and especially the judges for considering my story worthy of honour and to be shared with everyone.

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See Also:

• Johnson Diversity Series - Blasting the Concrete Ceiling with Muneera Bano
• YouTube Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtIloEbSo-Q
• Part of 12 of the most insightful and influential speeches from Asialink’s 2019 events