Nosheen Dad is keen to dispel the notion that all Asian women are downtrodden and unable to fulfill their ambitions.PW191213Bunion-01.jpg

Certainly her own upbringing, as the youngest of five in a Muslim family from Dewsbury, has produced a confident young woman with a strong sense of social justice and the determination to succeed in life.

The problem, she says, is that “people stereotype Muslims” and the world’s press tends to “focus on the negatives”.

A Politics with Media graduate, Nosheen is currently in her year of office as Students’ Union president at the University of Huddersfield. She is also an NUS National Executive Council member.

They are leadership roles that she has embraced with enthusiasm. In some ways it was almost inevitable that the 24-year-old would end up in an organisation representing the rights and welfare of her fellow beings.

Nosheen says her social and political awareness came from her family. She explained: “I am the baby of the family – there’s 20 years between me and my oldest sister – so my sisters and brother were more like mentors and guides to me. I was privileged to have them.

“In my family we all shared this sense of social justice. My parents were really engaged with current affairs and politics and all my siblings went to university and are all graduates in the social sciences, now working as senior managers.

“I have always been very confident and was very vocal at school. I’d get involved in debates and was interested in current affairs.”

While Nosheen’s siblings were her role models, she now sees herself as a positive influence on others. Before her election as President of the the Students’ Union – she is a former Vice President for Wellbeing and Equality – female engagement at leadership level was lower than it is today. She is also keen to encourage the next generation of her family to succeed. “My nephew, who is eight, says ‘my auntie is the president’. He thinks of me as the president of a country and not the Students’ Union. But I think it’s good he has someone to look up to.

“My 12-year-old niece wants to become a surgeon and I have said there is nothing stopping her.”

Education has been a driving force in her family. Although not privileged to have an education themselves, Nosheen’s parents, who came from Pakistan in the late Sixties and early Seventies, had aspirations for their children.

“My dad came here to work in the mills and my mum followed him,” says Nosheen. “He sounded a bit like Tony Blair at the dinner table with his famous three words ‘education, education and education’ but this is because he realised how the right type of education can transform lives.

“My parents made a conscious effort to fit into a society that welcomed them and gave them opportunities.

“I was never under pressure from my family and friends to be a doctor or a lawyer or one of the major professions. I’m very privileged when it comes to my parents - they said follow your heart and do what you enjoy the most.”

Nosheen is firmly of the belief it is a lack of education and a fundamental lack of respect for each other that causes problems in the world.

Nosheen Dad, president of Huddersfield Students' Union
Nosheen Dad, president of Huddersfield Students' Union

And as a practising Muslim she says she has a rational understanding of the Islamic way of life. “It is a peaceful religion,” she said. “People stereotype Muslims, but when you look into it properly you don’t have to be a particular race or religion to respect other people and contribute to society.

“I have female relatives in Pakistan who have been to university, all the way up to masters level, in fact one has just qualified as a lecturer, but the media tends to focus on the negative stories. There are a lot more positives in the world than negatives.”

 Commenting on the case of Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, whose plight made world headlines after she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman for speaking out on the rights of girls to an education, Nosheen said: “There is one sad case like this, when an idiot decides to shoot at a girl, and everyone thinks that women in Pakistan can’t go out and get an education. What you see on TV are stories like that, not the positives.”

Nosheen says it was the studies for her university degree that fine-tuned her interest in politics.

Her final year dissertation looked at how the media treats female politicians differently from their male colleagues. “It started framing me as a person,” she said.

“I realised there are certain things I’m really passionate about. I joined the Labour Party as an undergraduate and became involved with the SU.”

She sees herself as a modern-day feminist and explains: “Even after the introduction of the Equal Pay Act, income inequality has still risen in the UK. Women earn approximately £140,000 less than men in a lifetime.

“There is inequality in the workplace, with 42% of the workforce female – and 55% of graduates are women and yet they are still less likely to be in positions of leadership. In the House of Commons only 22% of MPs are female and only 20% of university professors are women.”

 One of the first things Nosheen did after becoming active in the SU was to set up the union’s first women’s group. Among the issues she has been keen to tackle on the campus is ‘lad culture’ among students.

She said: “When they are on a night out the might make a sexist joke or comment and think that it’s OK, because they’re just larking about. But it’s not OK and we’re doing something about it, not just here at Huddersfield but campuses across the country. It all comes back to a lack of respect and education.

“However, a lot of men of my age group are starting to become more feminist so there is an awareness.”

Another issue she feels needs to be addressed is that of student welfare and mental health – for both men and women.

“Students are under a lot of stress,” she explained. “They are under a lot of pressure to come out with a first or a 2:1 and know that a really good degree isn’t enough in the current climate so they need extra-curricular things on their CV. They also have worries over finance.”

 As far as her own CV is concerned, Nosheen is already able to show that she has leadership skills and is not afraid to speak out.

So what does the future hold for her?

“I’m not sure what I’ll do after my year in office,” she says. “But my career is driven by the difference I can make.

“I’m a practising Muslim; I’m a woman, I’m president of the SU and I’m a Yorkshire lass, but the one identity that I’m most proud of is that I’m another human being.”

FOR NUS members, foreign travel was an essential part of their  collaboration with other unions, so in 1930 they set up NUS Travel –  the beginnings of the organisation’s commercial activity.  In 1965, the  NUS established Endsleigh, the specialist student insurance company.  Before Endsleigh, students found it very difficult to obtain competitive  insurance for their possessions and vehicles.

THE NUS was founded in 1922, as part of a general desire for peace after the First  World War. Ivison Macadam, its first president, was an ex-serviceman, whose  experiences had given him an international outlook. He and the other founders wanted to be  represented in the Confederation Internationale des Etudiants, an organisation which had been  formed in Prague with the aim of promoting understanding and friendship between what were  perceived to be future leaders of different nations.