Introduction
The Shahla Garayeva Scholarship Program (SGSP) aims to advance educational aspirations and goals of underrepresented female students from Azerbaijan. Despite progressive legal framework, Azerbaijani women face many obstacles accessing educational opportunities. According to UNDP (2007), stereotypical gender attitudes in education reveal that boys are not only given more opportunity in education, but also they receive higher and better education. When it comes to pursuing educational goals in Azerbaijan, while financial difficulties may affect both genders, girls are viewed as being more vulnerable to both physical and cultural dangers, susceptible to gender stereotypes, and subject to early marriages.
The SGSP is named after Shahla Garayeva (1962-2018), a renowned pedagogue, professor of English language and American literature as well as one of the most talented teachers I have ever known. Shahla lost her life to cancer in April 2018 after a hard-fought battle. Hundreds of her students have known Shahla as a strong spirit, mother figure, passionate educator and most importantly, a friend. I have known Shahla for more than 15 years and have witnessed first-hand how much she has helped her students from diverse backgrounds reach their educational and career goals. Therefore, the funds collected from this campaign will go towards educating women like Shahla who are fighting their way to the top through education in Azerbaijan. Read more about Shahla's educational and professional journey below.
Program Implementation
The SGSP is a memorial crowdfunding project. Funds collected through SGSP will be used to meet educational needs of underrepresented females from Azerbaijan with a demonstrated need. Recipient(s) of the SGSP will be determined through an application process. Eligibility requirements to receive SGSP funds: (1) be a citizen of Azerbaijan; (2) be a female from underrepresented background(s) (e.g. low family income, single-parent household, ethnic minority, etc.); (3) have a demonstrated need for covering educational expenses at secondary or tertiary level of education. The recipient(s) of the SGSP will be selected by the board that will be established as a result of the crowdfunding campaign and will also include the SGSP team. Upon selection, the funds will be transferred to the recipient(s). During the inaugural campaign we will award six scholarships in the amount of $500 (totaling $3000). If we exceed the initial threshold of $3000, individual amount of scholarship will be reconsidered accordingly. By expanding women’s access to educational opportunities, we will be able to open up doors to future careers, financial stability in the same way Shahla helped her students.
(Azerbaijani version follows below)
Layihə haqqında
Şəhla Qarayeva Təqaüd Proqramı (ŞQTP) Azərbaycandan olan az imkanlı və təhsilə çıxışı məhdud olan qadınların təhsil imkanlarının genişləndirilməsi üçün yaradılıb. ŞQTP həyatını təhsilə həsr etmiş, məşhur pedaqoq və təbələrin dostu olan Şəhla Qarayevanın (1962-2018) adını daşıyır. Şəhla müəllimə 2018-ci ilin aprel ayında xərçənglə uzun mübarizədən sonra öz həyatını itirdi. Bu proqram vasitəsilə onun tələbələri, yaxınları, eləcə də Şəhla müəlliməni uzaqdan-yaxından tanımış hər bir şəxs onun əziz xatirəsini yad edir və Azərbaycanda güclü qadınların gələcək nəslinin yetişməsinə kömək edir.
Azərbaycanda qızların təhsili ilə bağlı kifayət qədər irəliləmiş hüquqi bazanın olmasına baxmayaraq, qadınların təhsilə çıxışında maneələr mövcuddur. BMT İnkişaf Proqramının (2017) hesabatına əsasən, gender stereotiplərin mövcudluğu, erkən nikahlar eləcə də qadınların liderlik mövqelərində təmsilçiliyinin arzu olunan səviyyədə olmaması bu maneələrdən sadəcə bəziləridir. ŞQTP nəticəsində toplanılan məbləğ ($3000) təhsil xərclərinin qarşılanması məqsədilə açıq müsabiqə yolu ilə seçilmiş altı nəfər qız şagird/abituriyent/tələbəyə (6 x $500) təltif olunacaq.
(English version follows below)
Project Team
Abbas Abbasov
I would not be where I am today without Shahla's mentorship and generous scholarships that have made my educational journey possible. As a first-year PhD student in the Comparative and International Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University, I am examining access to higher education in the post-Soviet countries. My previous research has looked at educational philanthropy in Azerbaijan. Due to my background as a non-profit manager and debate educator, I see the SGSP as an instrument to empower Azerbaijani women to pursue their educational dreams.
Aygun Garayeva
I have grown up having Shahla Garayeva as a role model, an aunt who dedicated her life to education and was able to overcome all the possible obstacles to realize the things she believed. I hold a B.A. in Translation and Interpretation (Spanish) from Azerbaijan University of Languages and M.A in Global Governance, Intercultural Relations and Peace-process Management from the University of Siena. I had a year of exchange studies in Sociology at Lodz University in Poland. I have experience working with NGOs in Azerbaijan and with different international organizations. At the moment, I am pursuing a fellowship program in Rondine Cittadella della Pace, an association based in Arezzo, Italy and internship program in Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa. Today, I am proud to say that somehow I am following my aunt's path and I am part of a team wiling to support and provide an opportunity for young girls to pursue their studies.
Aynur Nabiyeva
As an educated woman from Azerbaijan, I personally have benefited immensely from educational scholarship programs and the opportunities these scholarship programs opened for me to realize my potential and pursue my goals. I have worked in nonprofits managing different grant projects and their budgets. I hold an M.S. in Nonprofit Management, and am currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Business Administration in the United States. The technical knowledge as well as project management skills I acquired for the past 10 years have equipped me well to successfully contribute to the SGSP.
About Shahla Garayeva
Shahla Garayeva spent most of her career as a professor at the Baku State University (BSU). Since 1993, she worked as a senior lecturer of English language and American Literature for many years at the Faculty of International Relations and International Law at the BSU. She received her B.A in Philology (English Language and American Literature) at Azerbaijan University of Languages in 1987, M.A. at Bilkent University (Ankara, Turkey) in 2001. She worked as a chief of the language laboratory at the BSU from 1993 to 1995.
During 1995-2008, she served as a senior teacher at the Foreign Language Department at the Faculty of International Law and International Relations at the BSU. From 2001 to 2006, she was the evaluator in the American Studies Center at the BSU, evaluator for the CEP (Civic Education Project) 2003-2005, translator-editor for the Journal of History and its Problems 2002-2007 and expert on writing and revising tests at State University Entrance Exam Commission (abbr. "TQDK") between 2004-2008.
Due to health complications, she was not able to defend her PhD thesis titled “Evaluation of new and old English coursebooks: Writing a textbook for the faculties of IL and IR”. Thanks to the support from her family, students and nurses, finally in 2016, she was able to defend her work that was prepared 6 years ago at the Academy of Sciences in Azerbaijan.
Shahla was an active participant of several teacher training programs, national and international conferences in different parts of the world (UK, Turkey, Germany, America, Kyrgyzstan, France). She had always been supportive of sending the students to study abroad programs and had done her best for them in this field. Most of her students now are well-known people, people who hold high positions in government agencies, ambassadors, diplomats and other offices.