From the women who nearly didn't come

Everyone else comes first

When UCL invited them to take part in WHEN’s Career Accelerator, Huda wanted to come.

Parineeta almost didn’t.

“I did not want to come. I didn’t want to do the preparatory work. I opened that booklet a few times and shut it again.”

For Parineeta, work had become one part of a much bigger set of responsibilities: full time work, family life and caring responsibilities.

“Everybody and everything else comes first, and I put myself on the back burner.”

Huda understood that feeling too.

Both women had already navigated enormous change during their careers. Parineeta had left Kenya after struggling to find opportunities that made use of her scientific qualifications. Huda had left Iraq after living through years of war and uncertainty.

They had built careers and families in the UK. But somewhere along the way, survival, responsibility and getting on with the job had left little space to ask a different question:

What do I actually want from the next stage of my career?

 

Two days to step away

For two days, Parineeta and Huda stepped away from their normal working lives to reflect on where they were, what they wanted and what might need to change.

For Parineeta, something shifted almost immediately.

“Listening to people here is making me realise that we’re not so different. We’re all nodding at the same stories around the table.”

For Huda, being surrounded by other women thinking seriously about their careers created a different kind of energy.

“There’s a lot of inspiration in this room. A lot of passion. All the attendees here want to do better.”

The programme was not comfortable or easy. By the second day, both women described the experience as intense.

But they were beginning to see possibilities they had not been giving themselves permission to consider.

“I came in as a nervous wreck,” Parineeta said. “But now I feel like I can absolutely do this. I’ve got a mountain to climb. And I’ve got to get moving.”

Huda described what she had gained in one word:

“Drive.”

Perhaps the biggest shift was in how she was beginning to think about the future.

“I left home as a method of survival. But life is a lot more than survival. Now I’m seeking quality.”

Looking back, Parineeta described the change simply:

“I didn’t want to do this Accelerator, but I’m so glad I did. It’s been like coming out of a charging station.”

“I can see a lot out there that I never even dared to think about before. We can spend our whole lives just doing what we need to do, being in a rat race and then working hard at our home lives too.”

 

From reflection to action

Career Accelerator does not end when the two days are over.

Participants continue working together through facilitated Growth Environment Labs, creating space to turn intentions into action and maintain momentum.

When we caught up with Parineeta and Huda a month later, things were already changing.

Huda had started volunteering, become involved in public engagement and put herself forward for a speaking opportunity.

Parineeta had updated her CV for the first time in 25 years, increased her professional visibility, started thinking more intentionally about her medium and long term career, and had been nominated for Technician of the Year.

Together, they had also become involved in redesigning UCL’s PDR process for technical staff.

These were no longer abstract career plans. They were taking action.

 

Permission to stop

For Parineeta, one of the most important things the programme had provided was something she rarely gave herself: permission to stop.

“Pumping the brakes has forced me to think about things that I’ve spent a lifetime brushing underneath the carpet. About where I’m going and what I’d actually like to do.”

Huda described the change slightly differently.

“I feel I have received a dose of courage. A dose of motivation. And it’s okay to start with small steps. Small is good.”

For both women, Career Accelerator created protected space to step away from the demands of everyday life, reconnect with their ambitions and begin moving forward intentionally.

Parineeta summed up the difference:

“Before we were hidden. Now we’re putting ourselves out in the world.”