Taiwan has a large number of successful women in almost every sphere of life, in technology, business, agriculture, governance, education and much more, with a label of hard work. These women are inspiring, never giving up and courageous. Some rose from grass to grace while other followed successful paths created for them by their fathers through inheritance. In the field of technology, women in Asia including Taiwanese are known to attain unimaginable feats and positions through intelligence. Eva Yi-Hwa Chen of Taiwan who was born and raised in Taichung, having schooled at the National Chengchi University in Taipei where she earned a degree in philosophy. After her undergraduate education at the National Chengchi University, she worked for a short time at two specific companies, one of which was Acer Inc. as a member of the research department. Chen moved to the United States in 1984, where she obtained a master’s…

“It is a really exciting moment when you know something about the whole world that no one else does.” Pardis Sabeti was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1975, where her father, Parviz, was a high-ranking official in the shah’s government. Two years later, on the cusp of the Iranian revolution, the Sabeti family fled to the United States, eventually settling in Florida. “My father took one of the toughest jobs in the government because he cared about his nation more than himself,” Pardis says. “His courage and conviction have always driven me to want to make a difference.” In the early 1980s, Pardis’ mother, Nancy, bought some old textbooks, a chalkboard and a couple of school chairs and set up a makeshift summer school in the family’s home for Pardis and her sister, Parisa, who is two years older. Parisa, assigned the role of teacher, put together lesson plans and…

For every test or examination taken at school in Nigeria, you are given a results sheet that ranks students in order of academic performance. Sounds daunting to many, but personally I enjoy that type of methodical evaluation and this system gave me (as a student) and my parents a measure of my academic performance. Academia was so important to my family. I attended boarding school for my secondary education and my parents ensured I was given extra tutoring during mid-term breaks and holidays. Despite this extra effort, I struggled to meet my personal goals at school, finishing in the top 10 but never ranked top of the class. At my ‘academic peak’, my performance was second best, falling short of my closest friend and forming a slightly competitive bond. You might think top ten, or second best is still pretty good by all standards but first place came with rewards…