Hajara Kabeer- Chevening sample essays

Chevening is looking for individuals who will be future leaders or influencers in their home
countries. Explain how you meet this requirement, using clear examples of your own leadership
and influencing skills to support your answer.

As a young Northern Muslim woman, I am constantly motivated to challenge existing stereotypes that
both prevent Northern Nigerian women from accessing education and consign us women to the
bedroom. This has enabled me to take various leadership responsibilities such that when I think of
leadership, I think of influence, change, inspired action, and vision.

For example, at university, as one of the few aspiring female engineers studying petroleum
engineering, I served as the first female president of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Nile
University student chapter from 2017 to 2019. During my service, I convinced my university to host the
SPE annual national student technical conference and exhibition (STSE). Pioneeringly, after 16 years,
the conference was held in a private university in Abuja, bringing together Oil and Gas Industry
professionals and students from across the country. Resultantly, the university got a $2.1m donation of
software licenses from a petroleum engineering company for SEPAL software.

Currently, I serve as a board member of SPE Abuja section, where I engage actively as the chairperson
of SPE Energy4me program, helping to promote an energy-conscious society. In this role, I also
mentor young Northern children to pursue careers in sustainable energy via SPE E-mentoring program
and Lean in Energy. In recognition of my contribution to coaching and mentoring for SPE, I have
received several letters of commendation from the SPE International President. Through this
membership, I have developed soft skills including leadership, team working, excellent
communication and diplomacy skills.

Additionally, in 2017, to help counter the narrative of Northern females being the most educationally
disenfranchised in Nigeria, I began “Girl in STEM” to encourage young Northern girls to study STEM.
Since then, I have coached and trained several Northern girls from government primary and secondary
schools through early stage exposure, and extra-curricular activities, helping them fulfil their potential.
This experience exposed me to many talented young Northern girls, enabling me to help many achieve
their aspirations of working in STEM, thus, freeing them from an entrenched patriarchal system that
marginalises the girl-child. In 2018, my work earned me the nascent Girl-in-STEM leadership award in
recognition of my outstanding work in STEM advocacy.

I am fortunate to come from a Northern family where my father made education a primary objective
for every child and I am very fortunate to have received the education and leadership exposure that I
have experienced. Accordingly, my leadership experience has dually committed me both to a career
promoting the advancement of sustainable energy in Nigeria and advancing the cause of Northern
women in STEM. Hence, my most pressing goal is to enhance my resume as a young northern woman
working in STEM by doing a Masters in the field of sustainable energy at a reputable British
University. I am convinced the Chevening scholarship will not only help me to finance this goal but
also further enhance my leadership skills, confirming me as a global leader that is self-aware, able to
deploy my skills to positively change my community.

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 Hajara Kabeer- Chevening sample essays

Chevening is looking for individuals with strong professional relationship-building skills, who
will engage with the Chevening community and influence and lead others in their chosen
profession. Please explain how you build and maintain relationships in a professional capacity,
using clear examples of how you currently do this, and outline how you hope to use these skills in
the future.

I have carefully cultivated different social networks from university and work. My networking
experience has helped me develop personal connections that have helped to foster my development as
an authentic female leader. For example, my participation in society of petroleum engineers (SPE) was
pivotal in developing my networking skills connecting me to paid internships in companies such as
Shell Nigeria and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). I am one of the few young Northern
females in STEM who has had the opportunity to work in an IOC.

These opportunities have been an eye opener showing me clearly the correlation between networking
and female leadership advancement, which is quite challenging for Northern women. Though
traditional-male-centrism is an entrenched philosophy across Nigeria, the proliferation of girl-child
education in the South is helping to reduce gender discrimination in this region. Gender discrimination
cannot continue in the North given a 2017 National Bureau of Statistics report stating that women
account for over 49.2% per cent of the Northern population. Our continued alienation will increase the
incessant economic disequilibrium in the North, which has negative connotations for the whole
country. Accordingly, I believe that Northern female advancement will depend on a number of factors.
First, we must form strategic partnerships with our counterparts in the South, drawing on their
experiences to help us navigate through the complex minefield of female leadership. Additionally,
there must be the systematic training and capacity development of women in the North and third there
must be a methodical identification of talented Northern female STEM potential, using platforms like
the Chevening Alumni Association of Nigeria.

Accordingly, if I am successful in my quest for a Chevening Scholarship I would like to use the
networking and leadership experiences I have already gained promoting my own Girl in STEM
programme, plus the additional skills I will pick up during the programme, to create the CAAN
Northern women in STEM. With the UK backed CAAN behind this, such a platform would have a
broader base than the programme that I currently run and it will have three specific goals. The first will
be to organise four quarterly STEM coaching and mentoring events for Northern female secondary and
tertiary level students; the second would be to raise funding to finance scholarships for exceptional
northern women intending to pursue undergraduate tertiary education in STEM in local universities;
and the third would be to actively create a career development programme that will link exceptional
Northern female graduates in STEM to corresponding work or post graduate level STEM opportunities.
The latter is essential as many young bright women in the North are unaware that they can access
support groups or opportunities. We should be able to develop partnerships with various local and
international educational funding bodies like the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF).
This programme will also benefit from the expertise and support of like-minded CAAN STEM
professionals to contribute their time and resources to close the observed capacity gaps in STEM,
concerning northern female women in Nigeria.

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 Hajara Kabeer- Chevening sample essays

Outline why you have selected your chosen three university courses, and explain how this relates
to your previous academic or professional experience and your plans for the future. Please enter
new information and examples here and not duplicate the information you have entered on the
work experience and education section of this form.

Nigeria has to shift from its fossil fuel dependent economic and energy policy, to reach the global
consensus for the 2050 net zero emissions target of the 2015 Paris Agreement, focused on stemming
climate change through sustainable energy. In Northern Nigeria, for example, climate change has had
a negative impact on the environment, increasing desertification and flooding and shrinking Lake
Chad. This has affected fishing, farming and grazing and It has also devasted livelihoods, and
contributed to the crisis of insecurity/terrorism.

As a female and first-class graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Petroleum and Gas Engineering, I
would like to expand my understanding of sustainable energy through postgraduate study in a UK
university that has a global reputation in sustainable energy advancement. My desire is to further
optimise my understanding of sustainable energy at the intersection of economics, policy, the
environment, technology and engineering, as these are the connected factors that will guarantee a low
carbon future.

The MSc in Sustainability, Enterprise and the Environment program at the University of Oxford is my
first choice, as the 2021 Times Higher Education World University Ranking Report states that Oxford
is the U.K.’s premier university for sustainable energy and engineering. Additionally, Oxford is
globally recognised as one of two highest-ranking universities for academic study in the UK. Aligning
with Oxford’s tradition of excellence, this programme includes interesting intersectional modules on
new economic thinking on net-zero and sustainable development (NZSD), energy systems change,
enterprise and innovation, sustainable finance, and markets and society. Interestingly, these modules
will teach me sustainable energy and econometric models enabling me to quantify and assess the
implications that political decisions in the areas of energy, environment and climate have on the energy
sector and its economy.

Imperial college is my second choice because the MSc in Sustainable Energy Futures is an
internationally unique course offered by one of the top five universities in the UK. The
interdisciplinary nature of the course provides modules on energy systems technology, methods for the
analysis of energy systems, energy economics and policy, entrepreneurship in renewable energy and
urban energy systems. These modules will also equip me with major features of global energy issues,
sustainable energy technologies, and their interactions with economics, the environment and policy.

Lastly, my third choice, is the MSc. Economics and Policy of Energy and the Environment from
another top five ranked University i.e. the University College London. This course equips graduates to
become sustainability leaders and entrepreneurs in business, policy-making and research. The
modules on Planetary Economics and the Political Economy of Energy and Climate Change are a
stepping stone to achieving my aspirations as well as other interesting modules like Econometrics for
Energy, and Technology and Innovation.

Indeed, getting the British Chevening Scholarship will link me to these universities, connecting me to
like-minded individuals that will encourage me to invent multiple solutions through pragmatic and
multicultural discussions. Studying abroad will also be such an enriching experience and an occasion
to network with people globally while discovering another culture.

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 Hajara Kabeer- Chevening sample essays

Chevening is looking for individuals who have a clear post-study career plan. Please outline your
immediate plans upon returning home and your longer-term career goals. You may wish to
consider how these relate to what the UK government is doing in your country.

Upon my return, I intend to explore opportunities in an International Oil Company (IOC) as fifteen
months out of my two-year work experience was spent on paid internships with major IOCs, where I
have already established very strong networks. Alternatively, I will prospect for a position in a
multilateral organization like the UN or the World Bank as both the IOCs and these two agencies all
have a global ‘Sustainability’ Agenda which align with my current vision, though the implementation
in Nigeria still leaves a lot to be desired. With my newly acquired education and exposure, my focus
will be to contribute to driving the sustainable energy agenda from policy to action. Importantly,
having a Nigerian like me in the teams that interface with external stakeholders will be of great
advantage to bridging cultural differences that may hinder the implementation of policy.

I am also determined to continue my ‘Girl in STEM’ Empowerment Initiative. With the added
credibility of the Chevening Scholarship, I will be able to attract prominent Nigerians as mentors,
Board members and advisers. These influential people can help me scale the program to a national
level and connect me to the public sector, as no meaningful progress can be made without engaging the
government. I will continue to engage with likeminded local and international NGOs both to drive
school attendance among girls and to encourage them to take STEM subjects. I will grow my influence
among more northern women and girls continuing my advocacy for girl-child education in the North.
I will not stop until we help disenfranchised young girls of Northern Nigeria achieve their dreams of an
education and a better life than their mothers.

I will use my alumna status to leverage the many interventions of the UK Department for International
Development - DFID and other initiatives such as the Safe Schools Space Initiative, British Council
and UKAID, to source for and access grants for Girl in STEM activities. The number of out of school
children in Northern Nigeria is estimated at 12 million with more than half being girls. These agencies
are already operating in Northern Nigeria through various initiatives and it will be easy for me to
access their deep institutional knowledge to promote Girls in STEM, simultaneously helping to
strengthen ties between the UK and Nigeria.

Women in Nigeria are grossly underrepresented in the political space despite Nigeria being a signatory
to all global agreements on affirmative action. This is especially true in the Muslim North where it is
still a taboo for women to vie for political offices. It is my ambition to participate in the political
process as a technocrat, political office holder. I will join the growing legion of professional women in
Nigeria who are demanding our rightful place in running the affairs of our country.

I believe, the British Chevening Scholarship will be intrinsic to making me one of the few women
from my region to hold prominent positions in the energy sector and the political space.