Posted:
by QW+ staff writer
The company we keep: Zuha Ajlan
Zuha Ajlan is a South African neuroscientist and an advocate for education in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine. She is the founder of Shadow A Scientist, a non-profit company dedicated to making careers in STEM more accessible to young scientists in Africa. Since 2022, Shadow A Scientist has reached over 3,000 students across South Africa, Kenya, Lesotho, and Cameroon.
Pronouns: She/Her
Born: 13 November 1998
Status: A Menacing Queen with 15 different titles
School: Mondeor High School, Johannesburg, South Africa
University: University of the Witwatersrand (BSc, Hons, MSc; South Africa); University of Crete (Medicine; Greece)
First job: Freelance copyeditor. My first copyediting job actually started because my friend said I’m a good writer, and I could actually use it as a side hustle at university. I began copyediting undergraduate students’ reports for classes in 2018. Then in 2022, I became a freelance science editor for NewGen Publishing UK, where I have been editing textbooks for high school and university levels. Most of the textbooks I have edited are in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, but I have also worked on books on Academic writing, Midwifery, and Gender Studies.
Home: At the time of this interview? Johannesburg, South Africa. Soon? Heraklion, Greece
Transport: I have a license and can drive! But sometimes I carpool or get dropped off.
Book on your bedside table: Apart from textbooks? I currently have Perks of Being A Wallflower, and Gideon the Ninth.
Music in your playlist: It’s quite diverse: a lot of Halsey including “So Good”, “Without Me”, “Young God”; songs from Epic the Musical including “Thunder Bringer”, “Little Wolf”, “Warrior of the Mind”; Alex Warren like “Eternity”, and “Carry You Home”.
Describe your job in no more than seven words: Advancing STEM in different ways.
What keeps you awake at night? The knowledge that there’s so many things I and many other young people want to do but there aren’t many funding opportunities. I run a nonprofit working to promote STEM among young people, but there aren’t many funders who do support grassroot initiatives like ours or our country isn’t included. Similarly, degrees like Biomedicine and Medicine don’t have many funding opportunities and it can be quite tumultuous to achieve your career goals.
Who is your biggest hero? My mother – whose love forged me into my own hero
Remote or office? Office 100% but that’s because I do research and I find it easier to work at an office because then I am in work mode and it home I can be in rest mode
What’s the most exciting part of your job? Empowering young people in STEM! I love seeing young people get so excited and go “Oh! I didn’t know that.”
Career highlight? My nonprofit Shadow A Scientist now has chapters in four countries.
What is your superpower? I am very observant and notice minute details down to your body language.
What is the least known fact about you? I sometimes come off as an extrovert with my energy but I am an ambivert.
If you could get the ear of one person, to convince them your work is important, who would it be? Funders and sponsors. Because while there’s a lot of talk about funding education programmes to empower young people in STEM, there is either an expectation that these nonprofits should have a massive budget (think a million dollars) or are so niche that those of us in grassroots, or those of us who have expanded to multiple countries but don’t have a budget, don’t qualify.
If you had the power to pass a presidential decree, what would it be? Free healthcare for all. Healthcare is healthcare and you should have the right to receive it and this includes reproductive health and fertility treatment.
Your best piece of advice? The worst they can do is say no. You’re either going to stay where you are, be redirected or move forward. So ask.
What’s your next big thing? My MD-PhD at the University of Crete in Greece.
What do you do to relax? Depends on the day. Some days I like doing a full skincare routine – facemask and handmask and watch a movie or a series as I decompress, other days I like reading a fantasy novel.