MIA x MSA Women in Academia Panel: An Evening Full of Wisdom, Sisterhood, and Connection

MIA x MSA Women in Academia Panel: An Evening Full of Wisdom, Sisterhood, and Connection
Maryam Noor

In mid-January, Muslims in Academia (MIA) had their first event of the year in collaboration with the Muslim Students' Association (MSA). The purpose of this event was to bring together established Muslim women in academia for a panel discussion where they shared their academic journeys, experiences, and advice for younger Muslimahs navigating academia. The four panelists, Salma Sheikh, Alaa Hamid, Rayan Awad Alim, and Labiba Nawar, and moderator Bahja Farah (all pictured seated above), have studied and/or work at the University of Toronto in the fields of STEM, making their stories and experiences incredibly relevant to the attendees!

​For the first part of the event, the panelists responded to guided discussion prompts, with topics including how they experience being visibly Muslim, how they deal with the pressure to shrink parts of their identities in academic spaces, and how their faith empowers them in the face of challenges. This was followed by an open group discussion where the audience was handed mics to ask their burning questions. The atmosphere during the open discussion was incredibly supportive and reassuring, illustrating the power of sisterhood when it comes to building confidence in your identity!

​The event concluded with pizza and a networking session. The pizza was delicious, the conversations were thriving, and LinkedIn contacts were shared. I went around and asked some of the attendees for their key takeaways from the event. One girl responded, “Trust in your identity and don’t change yourself for the position you are in.” Another response was, “The Muslim experience isn’t as isolating as you think, and you’re guaranteed to find someone else with the same experiences if you explore your community.” A few people shared that they really valued the perspective of turning academia into an opportunity for ibadah (worship) by approaching their work with the right niyyah (intention). They also found reassurance through the perspective of how, just because you dedicate two years of your life to studying something, if you find you aren’t passionate about it, don’t feel obliged to see it through because, at the end of the day, you have decades of work life ahead of you. So, take those extra few years to pursue a career you’re actually passionate about! Overall, the Women in Academia panel provided a much-needed safe space for female Muslim students and academics to share their experiences and support each other as they each navigate their academic journeys. In sha Allah, we have more events similar to this one in the future!