Nurturing Pakistani‑origin scholars at Oxford
Despite a deep connection between Oxford and Pakistan, Pakistanis and British Pakistanis remain under-represented at the University. The Oxford Pakistan Programme is working to change that.
When graduate student Usama Salamat was awarded one of the first Oxford Pakistan Programme Graduate Scholarships to study for an MPhil in Development Studies at Lady Margaret Hall (LMH), he was immediately aware that he was following in the footsteps of some of the most renowned figures in politics in Pakistan: six prime ministers and two presidents have studied at Oxford, including Benazir Bhutto, the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan. This being the case, one might conclude that representation from the Pakistani and British Pakistani communities at Oxford is strong; in fact, only 65 students from Pakistan attended Oxford in 2021. This is particularly stark considering that 60% of the population of Pakistan is under the age of 30. Meanwhile, British-Pakistanis are especially under-represented at graduate level at Oxford.
The Oxford Pakistan Programme (OPP) was conceived only three years ago but it is a movement in a hurry to create change. Its dedicated co-founders include Professor Adeel Malik, a development macroeconomist and Research Fellow at St Peter’s College; Jurisprudence alumnus and corporate lawyer Haroon Zaman; and Dr Talha J Pirzada, Junior Research Fellow at Linacre College and Lecturer in Materials Science. Dr Fiona Spensley, Tutor for Graduates at LMH, and Dr Elizabeth Kiss, Warden of Rhodes House, are also members of the OPP academic body. Their mission is simple: to create new opportunities for scholars of Pakistani and British Pakistani origin, and to support Pakistan-related activities at the University of Oxford.
‘Every Pakistani student knows what the OPP is and people around Oxford get involved just to help out and come for talks. It makes a massive difference. It unites everyone in Oxford very, very nicely’
‘The OPP community has been instrumental in creating an environment at Oxford whereby Usama and fellow OPP Graduate Scholar Minha Khan experienced a profound sense of belonging from the moment they arrived. Usama says: ‘When you’ve applied to Oxford and you haven’t been there yet, you have very different preconceptions of what it’s going to be like. The first event I went to was an OPP introduction for scholars and it had such a close-knit family kind of feel. We pretty much met everyone who was involved in the programme. It was amazing.’
Minha, who is studying for an MPhil in Evidence-Based Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation, echoes these sentiments and particularly appreciates LMH’s active fostering of its close connection with the OPP. ‘LMH feels like a place that can be yours and I think that’s so special,’ she says. ‘There aren’t spaces like this in other places. You feel welcome, grateful. All the food is halal, which means you’re always feeling like you’re being seen. So, I think LMH – and specifically the OPP – has been fantastic.’
Opportunities abound for the scholars to get involved in the OPP throughout their time at Oxford and beyond. In his first term, Usama was approached to be part of the delegation for an OPP fundraising trip to Pakistan, along with LMH Principal Stephen Blyth, Linacre College Principal Dr Nick Brown and LMH alumna Malala Yousafzai. ‘The experience was surreal,’ says Usama. ‘I got to know the team so well on the Pakistan trip and when I came back, I was involved in absolutely everything.’ This included an access programme for schools in the UK with a high proportion of students of Pakistani origin, as well as schools in Pakistan, delivering year-round talks and workshops to encourage and assist applications to Oxford. Usama and Minha are also mentors for applicants to the graduate programme.
Usama Salamat in the grounds of Lady Margaret Hall. Photo by John Cairns
In addition to running access programmes, funding scholars and researchers, and nurturing academic networks between Oxford and Pakistan, a fundamental aim of the programme is to accord Pakistan the status and relevance that it deserves in terms of academic output. Minha references the meagre appetite among journals to publish research with Pakistan as its sole focus. She notes that an ‘anthropological’ approach is perceived as more palatable but is often also ‘othering’, as opposed to the more sociological, self-analytical model that is accepted for research submissions with a focus on Western cultures.
‘I’ve been told in the past that Pakistan alone is not enough to study,’ says Minha. ‘Unless you’re comparing Pakistan to the UK or the US or some other global superpower, there’s no inherent value to your work. What the OPP has done is change that narrative, so that you’re not chosen despite being Pakistani, but for being Pakistani. And that’s a moment that changes everything.’
‘Most of us who have received this opportunity wouldn’t have been here without it. Any success that follows is dependent on this crucial moment of even being able to accept your offer’
Both Minha and Usama fully grasp how the Oxford name can help launch their plans for the future. Usama is studying blasphemy laws within Pakistan and globally. He has ambitions to do further research on the nexus of religious, political and cultural rights and how this is all too often weaponised to oppress the most vulnerable in society. Minha plans to continue to work with an NGO in Pakistan that has vast knowledge of the education system there, as well as manifold ideas to improve it. She says: ‘These people never get a platform because they don’t have names like Oxford affiliated with them. It’s unfortunate because they know so much more than me. I don’t need to solve anything, I just need to use the capital I’ve got from these experiences, the platform.’
The headway the OPP has made in terms of connections and fundraising to date bears testament to the team’s commitment, and their efforts have inspired donors to invest in scholars and researchers to make Pakistan more relevant. Communicating the OPP vision to multiple stakeholders in Pakistan who care about improving the world – and specifically their country – in some capacity is a fundamental part of what the OPP does. ‘When you bring together those kinds of people on the common ground of saying “we care about our country” it makes such a difference,’ says Minha, ‘because no one else is doing it.’
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