A friend is a Dean at a business school that hires a lot of international students. Gender diversity is a core focus for the school. Historically, it has been challenging to recruit women, although ethnic diversity runs rampant with lots of starry-eyed hopefuls from different countries arriving to build better lives in North America.

Although the school has made some strides in recruiting women, there is still a gap when it comes to visible minority women, notably South Asian women. I recall a similar trend from when I went to business school twelve years ago. …

Trigger Warning: this article contains descriptions of disordered eating, and unhealthy eating disorder behaviors that may not be suitable for all readers. Fearless community, please read with care.

Throughout my life, I’ve had an uncomfortable relationship with food. At an early age, I learned to eat out of boredom and to avoid negative emotions.

I was the only person I knew who could eat nine full-sized Snickers bars in the space of a half-hour — with my head buried in a book and my mind transported to another world. Because I was overweight, my mother banned me from eating potato…

My parents visit me every year for a few months. Being retired, they migrate north to avoid the scorching Pakistani summers, and pack their bags to return when the air turns frigid. When they visit Vancouver, they stay with me and my husband in our guest bedroom.

The last time they came was in February of 2020, a couple of weeks before the pandemic hit. A year later, they haven’t left. The pandemic and the abrupt, unpredictable travel restrictions have made it difficult for them to do so. …

For those of us that check multiple boxes for diversity, it’s natural to ask the question — which dimension of my identity is more dominant?

In my case, am I a woman first or a visible minority first? When I am in a roomful of people, do I gravitate towards the animated throng of women or the more staid conversations of brown men? And does it even matter?

This matters because these two aspects of my identity are sometimes at odds.

White women often fail to understand intersectionality; many live in their little bubble, while oblivious to their own privilege.

Many white female leaders speak loudly and proudly about being advocates for diversity while stacking their teams with women…

Growing up in Pakistan, a 98% Muslim majority country, religion permeated every aspect of my life. I was taught to recite the Quran while I learned my ABC’s, and reprimanded when I missed my morning prayer. Our Muslim faith guided every life decision, from choosing when to host a dinner party (around prayer times, of course) to whether to enroll your daughter in a co-ed school (bad idea).

And yet, I struggled to reconcile my identity with the teachings of Islam. There are many things about it that bugged me.

There is no concept of free speech in Islam.

You are not allowed to question anything that you have…

During the coronavirus pandemic, while many of us are complaining about being confined to our houses while collecting full paychecks at our cushy jobs, some people are truly struggling.

Amir is one of those people. Amir works as an accountant at an airline in Saudi Arabia. When the pandemic hit, he was exposed. As a steady worker in a state-owned enterprise in an oil-flush economy, Amir thought he was safe. Not so. When people stopped traveling and countries closed borders, Amir’s financial foundation turned into kindling overnight.

The pandemic exposed the gaping holes in his life plan and his domestic…

There is a lot that we don’t know about life.

Whether or not there is a life after death is an age-old question that has confounded us for centuries.

For religious people, it’s comforting to believe that death isn’t the end. What we do in this life matters. Death isn’t an escape from nefarious deeds done in a wayward life. Our moral compass demands that cosmic justice balance the scales in the afterlife, particularly when someone hasn’t been held accountable for their actions while they were alive.

This is part of why we fear death. Death is the doorway to a terrible unknown. Staunchly religious people usually believe themselves to…

Negotiating your salary is very important. But this process can be a black box. It can incite anxiety if you lack confidence in your own worth. You may fear that asking for more money will negatively impact your reputation.

However, not negotiating the right salary or rate at the outset can lead to years of being paid less than you are worth. Your annual salary increment is usually calculated as a percentage of your current pay. …