Arts & Culture
Grads 2025: Senada Meskin
Senada Meskin wrote much of her PhD thesis sitting on the floor of her son’s taekwondo class.
The ¸£Àû¼§Porn alumna spent countless hours there, watching him train, while typing away on her laptop about the challenges highly-educated professional Muslim women face in Australian workplaces.
It was just one of the sacrifices Senada made to ensure her three kids remained supported while she pursued her dream of studying, driven by her love for learning.
Originally from Bosnia, she began her higher education journey in Indonesia.
“I did my bachelor’s degree [in Law] in Indonesia – my husband and I moved there after getting married in Bosnia – where we met – as Indonesia is where he is originally from,” Senada says.
“He then got posted to the Indonesian embassy in Canberra, so the whole family moved here. After 12 months here, I said I want to do more, because I love studying, I love sharing knowledge.”
This kicked off the next chapter of Senada’s studies: completing a master’s degree at the Australian National University (ANU), before undertaking her Master of International Development at UC. When she graduated, she knew she wasn’t done yet.
“I really, really love UC. I love the culture, the environment, and the togetherness that exists – we are all in it together,” Senada says.
“So I didn’t want to stop after I completed my Masters, I just slid straight into my PhD.”
Her thesis – titled A Critical Investigation into the Employment Experiences of Muslim Women in Australia – explores the relationship between wearing a headscarf, employment outcomes and workplace experiences in Australia.
“My PhD is about highly successful Muslim woman professionals whose tales must be told,” Senada says.
“I realised I am not the only woman with a headscarf that works in professional settings. I wanted to look into these experiences from my personal perspective, but also to expand the existing small portion of research about the employment experiences of Muslim women in professional sectors – that’s how my PhD thesis was born.”
To quantify her findings, Senada interviewed 36 tertiary-educated Muslim women working in highly competitive industries, such as health, engineering, government, education and research in Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra.
“They shared tales busting with perseverance, resilience and determination. A lot of them work in industries that are very-much male dominated. I asked what they do to overcome all the bad voices that come when trying to find work – because if you’re a practicing Muslim woman and you’re applying for a job, you’re going to see a lot of members of the community saying that they weren’t accepted because of the headscarf,” she says.
“Practise of Islam involves sets of behaviour that could impact their sense of belonging in Australian workplaces, like avoiding gatherings where alcohol is served, taking prayer breaks five times throughout the day, and no physical contact (like shaking hands) with the opposite sex.
“Their stories are intertwined with challenges related to family obligations, community responsibilities, society’s expectations and personal insecurities.”
However, Senada found that, overwhelmingly, the women interviewed had a positive attitude and a lot of hope for the future of Muslim women seeking professional careers.
“My thesis was literally about capturing the positive aspects, because I was sick and tired of reading the negativity that exists – not only within commercial media, but also within academic publications,” Senada says.
“We fought for the choice to be whatever we want to be.”
Throughout her studies, Senada’s life and familial situation changed significantly. When her husband’s career took him back to Indonesia, she had a life-changing decision to make uproot her children from their lives and schools in Canberra, or stay, and continue studying while looking after her three kids alone.
It comes as no surprise that Senada chose the latter.
“I did struggle a lot when my husband went back to Indonesia. It wasn’t really an option for him to remain with us, so I stayed here with the kids,” she says.
“Particularly when I did my Masters and PhD coursework – I wanted to be in the classroom, but I had to juggle that with taking my kids to school, picking them up, planning meals – sometimes I would wake up early and spend the entire day cooking so that there were containers of food in the fridge.
“My kids had all these extracurricular activities where I would have to drive them around at night, so I would drop my youngest at his taekwondo training and bring my laptop and books, and I’d be doing my studies on the gym floor.”
It’s a situation that many would struggle in – but not Senada. She has nothing but praise for her children and husband, who she credits as her biggest supporters.
“I can’t say I didn’t have help – my two oldest children, as soon as they could drive, would take their brother to training so I could do my own thing,” she says.
“I used to joke with them that they were my biggest supports. All three of them have different personalities: my eldest son is very religious, my middle daughter is very pragmatic and practical, and my youngest is just my baby – even now he’s always giving love, and as a kid used to just sit on my lap and give me cuddles.
“I was covered from every aspect. So, while I didn’t have the support from extended family that I would have had if I studied in my home country, I did have huge support from my kids. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.”
It’s a relationship so special that Senada’s two oldest children have followed in her footsteps and are now both studying undergraduate degrees at UC.
Both are studying a double degree: her son is studying a Bachelor of Secondary Education and a Bachelor of Science, while her daughter undertakes a Bachelor of Design and a Bachelor of Business (Management).
Senada says she’s happy they’re here and following in her footsteps, but that the decision to study at UC was purely their own.
“Both of them are here, which I really love, because they fell in love with UC through me, and through my stories,” she says.
“Neither one of them even considered taking a gap year – they said they just wanted to come and study. Although I am supportive of their choices, I said to my daughter that if she chooses to be a mum, and stay at home, that is her choice to make.
“As women, we should not have our value measured on the degree of education we have or how successful we are as mothers, because we are all different. We all have different desires and plans.
“I never forced my children to follow in my footsteps academically. I am already living my dream … I don’t need to live my dream through them.”
When Senada walked across the graduations stage at the National Convention Centre in March, she was cheered on by her three kids – a full circle moment, after the sacrifices she made to raise them.
Words by Elly Mackay, photos by Liam Budge.