How to navigate structural barriers to postgraduate opportunities
/I moved to Geneva in 2018 to pursue a Master’s in International Affairs from the Graduate Institute, Geneva. The multicultural and enriching study environment and proximity to international organizations seemed like the obvious destination, once I had decided to build an international career. But it wasn’t all that easy- I didn’t receive a scholarship. While not many could have availed this opportunity without a scholarship, I feel privileged that my parents’ support and a high-interest loan helped me make my way to Geneva.
That’s why landing paid internships with some of my dream organizations was crucial to finance my stay in Geneva. After sending out about 60+ internship applications, many unsuccessful, I was selected as the content intern at the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), where I provided digital communications support for the advocacy of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). This experience inspired my Master’s thesis where I analyzed the role of feminist actors and gender in the nuclear ban treaty. While there wasn’t an opportunity for me to stay on at ICAN, the experience I gained helped me get some of my future roles. I went on to work with the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), where I undertook research on the women, peace and security agenda. Currently, I work with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as the internal communications (INTCOM) associate, where I curate and produce content for the intranet, provide strategic advice on communication plans to my colleagues and produce quarterly analytical reports. Apart from this, I’m also engaged in diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives at the ICRC. All these opportunities helped me narrow down my interest in communications, DE&I and humanitarian action; They gave me some amazing people and supervisors to work with and learn from, and their values and mission were congruent with my personal philosophy.
However, it was not always a rosy picture. Someone who reached out to me on LinkedIn a few months ago said to me, “it was really great to see someone from India and your background working there.” To me, her remark was truly reflective of the lack of diversity and inclusion I’ve seen in most workplaces. Research clearly outlines that having more diversity in leadership positions is beneficial for the growth of organizations. But the reality is that there are so many structural barriers and challenges for those of us from other parts of the world to build an international career in countries like Switzerland. While most organisations want “diversity” in their workforce, most often there’s no dedicated human resources person for interns and trainees to guide a career path or retain them in the organisation. Your next step in the organization (or lack thereof) is unfortunately decided through the agency of your manager and your relationship with them. There’s also a lack of empathy from the organization when it comes to acknowledging these barriers. So for the few who do end up navigating them, there’s also the limitations sprung from employment laws that restrict companies from hiring non-EU employees. Moreover, in all the places I’ve worked so far, very rarely have I seen someone who is from a non-European/Western background in a senior leadership role.
Getting into an organisation can be challenging. However, being successful in one’s workplace and being able to stay on or be promoted in your organization is a different ball game altogether. I’m happy to share that I've been promoted to the position of INTCOM officer at the ICRC and will be starting this position next month. I’m excited to see where this next step in my career takes me but having navigated some of these barriers myself in the past year, here are my top three tips based on my personal experience:
Get a mentor: Given the challenges you’ll face in your workplace, it's crucial to build a support system that helps you navigate through them and a well meaning mentor is an integral part. I built a relationship with someone who was kind enough to share her experiences and guided me through my professional journey.
Network, network, network: I’ve dreaded this word for many years but unfortunately there’s no way around it. If it helps, you can always think about it as “informational interviews” but it is key to put yourself out there in an enterprising manner because you’ll never know who’ll help you land that dream role.
Be clear and explicit about what you want: While meeting your work plan priorities is essential, equally important is to check in with your manager regularly on your professional and developmental goals and convey with clarity what you want out of this current opportunity.