QIYADA

Dr. Hiba Rajha, AGYA

How can we bridge the gender gap in leadership? Join us in insightful conversations with leadership and gender equality experts, empowering future leaders across Germany and the Arab world. In this podcast, we explore the barriers to female leadership and, more importantly, the solutions. Each episode unpacks key insights from research and practical advice from experts, equipping future leaders with the skills they need to succeed. Your host, AGYA member Dr. Hiba Rajha, guides you on this journey alongside thought leaders in leadership, diversity, and career development. Episodes cover essential topics such as resilience, networking, negotiation skills, and overcoming workplace biases. Through personal stories and evidence-based strategies, QIYADA offers practical guidance for navigating leadership challenges and driving meaningful change.

  1. Masterclass ‘Navigating Challenging Work Environments’

    10/16/2025

    Masterclass ‘Navigating Challenging Work Environments’

    In this third Masterclass, we explore one of the most complex – and yet crucial – dimensions of contemporary leadership: how to navigate difficult work environments. Led by Guila Clara Kessous, UNESCO Artist for Peace, Harvard-certified executive coach, and expert in ethical and inclusive leadership, this session offers a clear-eyed and powerful perspective on microaggressions, unconscious bias, inappropriate behaviour, and other subtle forms of discrimination that weaken professional dynamics, erode trust, and hold back talent. With a pedagogical yet deeply human approach, Guila defines what hostile work environments really are – often invisible, but profoundly destructive – and shares practical tools to recognize, deconstruct, and respond to microaggressions and bias, whether one is directly affected or a witness. She explores strategies for minority leaders to assert themselves while cultivating allyship, practical responses to sexist jokes or paternalistic remarks, and a nuanced reading of the psychological tactics linked to harassment. Above all, she shows how leaders can build cultures of safety, respect, and inclusion. This Masterclass is both uncompromising and constructive, reminding us that inclusive leadership cannot simply be declared, but must be built, step by step, decision by decision, by creating environments that protect, uplift, and give space to everyone. An essential session for anyone seeking to transform their leadership posture and make workplaces more just, safe, and aligned with human values. Learn more about the project here: https://agya.info/research/research-projects-by-year/inclusive-leadership-a-digital-approach-to-bridging-the-gender-gap

    24 min
  2. Masterclass ‘Life-Work Balance Inspired by Leadership Stories’

    10/16/2025

    Masterclass ‘Life-Work Balance Inspired by Leadership Stories’

    In this Masterclass, Hiba Rajha shares the key insights drawn from 40 interviews with inspiring women leaders, centered on a universal and often taboo theme: the balance between professional and personal life. The session gives voice to those who have had to juggle professional ambition, family commitments, and the search for meaning. It’s not a lesson in perfection, but a behind-the-scenes look at human leadership, where doubts, choices, sacrifices – and strategies of resilience – come to light. Among the most powerful takeaways, we learn how to break free from self-imposed limits to succeed across different spheres of life, why compromises can become acts of freedom when they align with personal values, and how the myth of ‘having it all at once’ needs to be replaced with a more dynamic vision of life. We also hear how guilt can be transformed into pride and a legacy of values, why letting go of perfectionism is essential to thriving, and how self-care, pauses, supportive networks, honest conversations with loved ones, and transparency with children can become the true pillars of sustainable balance. Hiba channels these experiences to offer us a compass for redefining success: not as a solitary sprint, but as a shared journey, nourished by clarity of priorities, the strength of connection, and the right to imperfection. Learn more about the project here: https://agya.info/research/research-projects-by-year/inclusive-leadership-a-digital-approach-to-bridging-the-gender-gap

    14 min
  3. Masterclass ‘Research Results about Challenges and Strategies’

    10/15/2025

    Masterclass ‘Research Results about Challenges and Strategies’

    In this Masterclass, project partners Dr. Hiba Rajha and Dr. Luise Fischer unveil the results of their qualitative study conducted with 40 women leaders from around the world. Their goal? To understand the invisible barriers women face on their path to leadership – and, more importantly, to uncover the concrete strategies they use to overcome them. Drawing from in-depth interviews, the Masterclass highlights three levels of challenges. On the personal side: self-doubt, impostor syndrome, perfectionism, and the struggle to align personal values with traditional leadership norms. On the interpersonal level: a lack of role models, limited solidarity among women, persistent gender stereotypes, mental load, and family imbalance. And on the systemic level: toxic corporate cultures, the glass ceiling, microaggressions, structural inequalities, and workplaces that fail to foster inclusion. But that’s only part of the story. Hiba and Luise also share the transformative strategies women leaders have developed: building resilience, negotiating smartly, creating support networks, practicing inclusive leadership, and staying true to their values. Along the way, they uncover surprising insights – the unexpected role of sports in boosting confidence, cultural nuances around motherhood, and even tensions between women in highly competitive environments. This Masterclass introduces an evolving model of inclusive leadership, structured around nine spheres: leading yourself, your personal life, your professional relationships, a team, change, a business, your career, your image, and your environment. Learn more about the project here: https://agya.info/research/research-projects-by-year/inclusive-leadership-a-digital-approach-to-bridging-the-gender-gap

    22 min

About

How can we bridge the gender gap in leadership? Join us in insightful conversations with leadership and gender equality experts, empowering future leaders across Germany and the Arab world. In this podcast, we explore the barriers to female leadership and, more importantly, the solutions. Each episode unpacks key insights from research and practical advice from experts, equipping future leaders with the skills they need to succeed. Your host, AGYA member Dr. Hiba Rajha, guides you on this journey alongside thought leaders in leadership, diversity, and career development. Episodes cover essential topics such as resilience, networking, negotiation skills, and overcoming workplace biases. Through personal stories and evidence-based strategies, QIYADA offers practical guidance for navigating leadership challenges and driving meaningful change.