Yassmin Abdel-Magied: What does my headscarf mean to you?
ياسمين عبد المجيد: ما الذي يعنيه حجابي لكم؟
Yassmin Abdel-Magied wears many hats, including a hijab. She's a mechanical engineer, writer and activist who campaigns for tolerance and diversity. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
walks past you in the street.
to wear this outfit?
in the exact same outfit
and the way I'm treated
of this piece of cloth.
another monologue about the hijab
are so much more than the piece of cloth
to wrap their head in.
I was a race car engineer,
and I ran my university's race team,
شاركت بها مع فريق الجامعة،
trained as a boxer for five years,
تدربت 5 سنين على الملاكمة،
associated with it
called unconscious bias,
ridiculously detrimental
from the outset:
as conscious discrimination.
there's a secret sexist or racist
متعصب للجنس متخف أو عنصري
waiting to get out.
we see the world around us.
نرى العالم من حولنا.
has to be identified,
education, disability.
against what's different,
ضد ما يختلف عنا،
to live in a world
has a role to play
does not determine our lives.
in the space of unconscious bias
in the 1970s and 1980s.
في السبعينات والثمانينات.
were made up mostly of dudes,
عموما من الرجال،
men played it differently,
بوسطن السمفونية
you would have to play behind a screen.
فأنت تجلس وراء ستار.
to take their shoes off
of the heels
increased chance
the preliminary stage.
their chances of getting in.
men actually didn't play differently,
لا يعزفون بشكل مختلف،
that they did.
determining their outcome.
is identifying and acknowledging
a horrible car accident.
is rushed to hospital.
إلى المستشفى.
when they arrive and is like,
the surgeon was a guy?
أن الجراح رجل؟
that unconscious bias exists,
to acknowledge that it's there
that we can move past it
is the topic of quotas.
that's often brought up.
is this idea of merit.
هو فكرة الاستحقاق.
because I'm a chick,
اختياري لأنني فتاة،
I have merit,
among female engineers
in an experiment done in 2012 by Yale,
عام 2012 بتجربتها،
for a lab technician,
متشابهة لتقني مختبر،
be deemed less competent,
how we can move past it.
it's called the merit paradox.
and this is kind of ironic --
being their primary value-driver
من دوافعها الأساسية
and more likely to pay the guys more
is a masculine quality.
a good read on me,
and being like,
هكذا يمكن إنجاز الأمر"
This is how it's done."
that's my day job.
that it's pretty entertaining.
isn't even comment-worthy.
ليس مثيرا للاهتمام حتى.
to learn how to surf."
know how you can surf
لا أعرف كيف ستتمكنين من ذلك
with a brilliant idea,
that organization
for Muslim chicks in beaches.
على الشواطئ.
Youth Without Boardshorts."
telling me that
التي يمكنني تناولها
I was going to get around there.
التي أحصل عليها هنا.
lack of diversity in our workforce,
في التنوع في عمالتنا،
did an experiment
4,000 identical applications
as someone with an Anglo-Saxon name,
لأسماء إنجلوسكسونية،
to send out 68 percent more applications.
فعليك إرسال 68% طلبات أكثر.
Abdel-Magied --
you're pretty lucky,
it's not that much better.
فليس الوضع أحسن.
some diversity results
and nine, a bunch of blacks, Hispanics,
و9% من السود والأسبان
is not that much better
what they're doing about it.
المزودين للمدراء التنفيذيين،
of the FTSE 100 companies
at their board level,
don't have an executive
ليس لها مدير تنفيذي
that are at that sort of level
What can I do about it?"
ومالذي بمكتتي أن أفعل حياله؟
and that's due to unconscious bias.
there thinking,
to do with me?"
we're looking for an ideal.
of your birth don't matter,
of the lab resume experiment
تجربة المختبر الخاص بالسير الذاتية
the successful women together,
الذي جمع النساء الناجحات معاً،
heard that before,
to mentor someone different.
أن يُرشد شخصاً مختلفاً.
who kind of is familiar,
who's got a bit of attitude,
who went to the same school,
كان معك في المدرسة،
going to want to help that person out.
أن ترغب بمساعدة هذا الشخص.
who has no shared experiences with you
to find that connection.
different to mentor,
from the same background as you,
for people who couldn't even get
the world is not just.
with equal opportunity.
cities in the world, Khartoum.
في العالم،في الخرطوم.
that is pretty suspicious of us
that I was born with privilege.
of migrating to Australia.
with amazing mentors
that I didn't even know were there.
so that I can share it with people."
belong on an Australian rig,
إلى هذا البئر الأسترالي،
in my communities
helped out by mentors.
of so many other young people.
على تغيير حياة الكثير من الشباب.
when she came to Australia,
عندما قدمت إلى أستراليا،
of the Year Award in 2008.
in the abaya at the beginning.
if you had seen me
of who I am?
the opposite end of your spectrum
يقف على العكس من طيفك
those kinds of opportunities,
diversity has nothing to do with you,
where to find someone different,
private high school tutoring,
local refugee tutoring center.
totally out of place --
because we're not victims,
you have access to doors
they didn't have.
with lack of opportunity,
بسبب نقص الفرص،
has the potential to change that.
القدرة لتغيير ذلك.
of challenges today,
and think about it a little differently,
و فكرتم بها بطريقة مختلفة،
your initial perceptions
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Yassmin Abdel-Magied - Mechanical engineer, social advocateYassmin Abdel-Magied wears many hats, including a hijab. She's a mechanical engineer, writer and activist who campaigns for tolerance and diversity.
Why you should listen
Yassmin Abdel-Magied is on a mission to promote diversity throughout society, however and wherever she can. Born in Sudan, she moved to Australia when she was two years old, and trained as a mechanical engineer. She now spends her time both working as an engineering specialist on oil and gas rigs -- and heading up Youth Without Borders, the organization she founded to enable young people to work for positive change in their communities.
Named the 2015 Queensland Young Australian of the Year, Yassmin advocates for the empowerment of youth, women and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. In 2007, she was named Young Australian Muslim of the Year. She also really like motorsports.
Yassmin Abdel-Magied | Speaker | TED.com