Interviewer: Muhammad Riaz
Publisher: Amira Haytham
“We’re a family and the lab is our home. The time in the lab should be a source of happiness and not tension. Little things, like understanding when someone has hit a roadblock and working together to fix it goes a long way…”
Ghazia Abbas
HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: In your early 20’s, you’ve discovered so much in your field of biology. How were you motivated to choose this field of work?
Ghazia Abbas: Ever since I was a little child, I’d always been fascinated in the intricate details of how things worked. As I grew up, I realized that nothing was as complicated and glorious as living systems: how complicated biochemical processes complicated to make the simplest of living beings. The quest to find the answer to how complicated and yet simple a living being is, is what motivated me then and still motivates me till this date.
HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: In the society of today, is it not difficult for a single girl to work in this unique field?
Ghazia Abbas: In all fields of STEM (Science, technology, engineering and math) women are in the minority. Although trends are changing since the consent of the new millennium, there is still a long way to go for us. But I feel that as long as I work as hard as I can, in the end, I’ll be appreciated for my scholarly knowledge over my gender. And just between you and me, a person learns to tune out the sexist remarks after a while.
HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: As we know the expenditure of each person is extremely high in this period of time, do you earn enough to bare all your expenses?
Ghazia Abbas: I believe that the reason for such high individualistic expenditures is a materialistic society that believes that happiness is extrinsic instead of intrinsic. It’s for this reason that I’ve embraced the minimalist philosophy of living. As a result, not only are my expenses relatively low and I’m able to earn more than enough to cover them, but I also find peace in the fact that my source of happiness isn’t tangible.
HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Biology requires a lot of tools and equipment, are you provided with those?
Ghazia Abbas: Tools and equipment for various experiments are provided by the government in forms of grants. These grants are from tax payers’ money that is centered round research that is pertinent to the population (e.g. the funding for Ebola immediately increased after the Ebola epidemic). Unfortunately, this paradigm means that there are areas of research that are not funded because we cannot fully comprehend the impact that it will have on us in the Future. My areas of interest, which revolve around HIV AIDS and cancer, are fully funded and I am provided with sufficient tools and equipment.
HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: As you’re a researcher, you must have an assistant. What do you keep in mind before hiring an assistant?
Ghazia Abbas: Being a technical job, prior experience is mandatory for an assistant. However, as an assistant, they need to be intrinsically motivated and resilient in their quest for results.
HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: How do you motivate your assistant and your team to work better?
Ghazia Abbas: As mentioned before, motivation needs to be intrinsic in nature in order to get some of the mundane tasks done. I try to cultivate intrinsic motivation in my laboratory by encouraging cohesiveness in the group. We’re a family and the lab is our home. The time in the lab should be a source of happiness and not tension. Little things, like understanding when someone has hit a roadblock and working together to fix it goes a long way.