Aerospace engineer Zahra Imanova, 25, dreams of the day Azerbaijani women will see their future in the stars. 

Two years ago she created “Zahra in Space,” an online platform that uses articles and information in the Azerbaijani language to encourage young people, especially girls, to learn more about space and engineering.

“No Azerbaijani woman has traveled to space, not even in our fairy tales and stories. Zahra is an imaginary character from Azerbaijan in space, the first Azerbaijani woman there,” she says.

The lack of women engineers first prompted Zahra’s interest in the field. “I noticed that men dominate in engineering and women are hardly visible. I used to ask myself why there were not any female engineers. So I chose it [as a profession],” she says.

Zahra was lucky—her family supported her choice, But Khalisa Shahverdiyeva, a gender and development specialist, says most girls in Azerbaijan are encouraged to choose humanitarian-oriented professions, such as teachers. While it is easier to find work in these fields, the salary is usually lower than traditionally “male professions,” like technology.

Zahra says not everyone has been supportive of her career choice. “There are people who say this career is not for women and I would be unable to find work in the future,” she says. “I try not to debate with anyone who supports such views and I simply laugh them off."

In recent years, some organizations in Azerbaijan have started trying to attract young women like Zahra to STEM professions. One such organization, Femtech, aims to create a technological ecosystem for Azerbaijani women.

Femtech, a hackathon in Baku. Hackathons are one of the most important events for developing the technology and engineering capabilities of young girls. Such events support young women realize start-up ideas.

“The platform organizes events such as femtalks, hackathons in Baku and some educational meetings in the regions,” the founder of the platform, Nazrin Guluzada, says.

The efforts are starting to have an impact: the State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan reports that 12 percent of women applying to universities (13,491 out of 111583) chose to study a STEM subject in 2022-2023. For comparison, in 2009-2010, just 1377 out of 63,940 studied in a STEM-related field.

More degrees have not translated to a strong female presence in the field, however.

Shahverdiyeva notes that just getting a STEM degree isn't enough; in order to gain greater visibility, women need to be in the job market, especially in well-paid sectors.

“In the field of STEM, women in Azerbaijan choose to teach mathematics,” she says, instead of working in the field. Even when they're in the field, Zahra notes, women engineers are often expected to wait for approval from male colleagues before making work-related decisions.

Aytac Nuraddinova, an expert in robotics and programming, says more needs to be done to encourage children outside of the capital Baku—especially girls—to study STEM from a young age, to create real change.

"STEM education needs to be integrated into the curriculum starting from schools,” she says, noting that the science and technology sectors in Azerbaijan also need to advance to support female leaders in the field.

“Both government agencies and other funding entities should collaborate to facilitate the organization of these training programs.”  

Gender specialist Khalisa Shahverdiyeva says government support for women in STEM programs—including scholarships and active encouragement for women to work in the field—is critical for women's advancement.

“Once they see female role models in the STEM field, parents of the next generation of young people will be interested in supporting education with their own investments for their children,” she says. “If educated women enter the labor market with high-paying jobs, we will see a different environment.”

Zahra is already trying to be a role model for young people throughout the country through "Zahra in Space.” While the audience is still limited, she updates the platform almost every month and shares posts through social media.

“The readership of posts on the blog is somewhere around 100, and when I make short posts on my Instagram page, I get about 300 views. People like to watch shorter content,” she explains. 

Her efforts have already garnered attention: Zahra was named “The Rising Star” in the 2023 Azerbaijan Women in IT Award competition, organized by Femmes Digitals, a public association that supports women in tech.

“Women in the field of science and technology should find a way to promote their skills, knowledge, and educate the public,” she says, noting that will encourage children to follow in their footsteps. 

“There is no need to wait for magic.”