GENDER.ED - EUSA 2025 Undergraduate Feminist Trailblazer Awards: Third Prize Winner
2025 was the fourth year of the GENDER.ED-EUSA Undergraduate Feminist Trailblazer Awards. The awards celebrate outstanding contributions to feminist scholarship and activism within the University of Edinburgh community. We asked Aagoon Chakraborty, third prize winner, to reflect on her feminist journey.
I remember hesitating before submitting my nomination for the Feminist Trailblazer Award. Self-nominations can feel strange - like claiming space you’re not entirely sure you deserve. But I did it, encouraged by peers who reminded me that sometimes, stepping forward isn’t just about your own story, it’s about making space for others to believe in their own.
When I think about what led me here, to this recognition by GENDER.ED and EUSA, I don’t see a single project or title. I see a thread: a commitment to confidence-building, access, and feminist action, that’s run through every chapter of my academic and personal journey. It began long before I arrived at Edinburgh, and it has been shaped by people and places far beyond its walls.
It started in Kolkata, India, where I founded a tutoring initiative for the children of sex workers. What began with just three students grew to 43 in three months. I just knew that education could crack open possibility, even in places where systemic barriers felt immovable. That experience taught me that feminism isn’t something we talk about on panels or in seminars. It’s something we do - in the ways we listen, the spaces we create, the systems we challenge. It’s about recognising the structures that hold some of us back and doing the daily work to dismantle them, even when it's slow, imperfect, or invisible to most.
That belief followed me to Edinburgh. As a woman of colour studying Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science, I was quickly made aware of how male-dominated tech spaces can feel, even within the university. I watched women question whether they belonged, or whether their voices mattered in tutorials or hackathons. I recognised that feeling all too well. But I also knew how powerful it is when someone reaches out and says, you absolutely do.
On campus, I’ve continued this work through the Hoppers Society for Gender Diversity in Informatics, where I first took on a leadership role during my very first year. From organising welcome events and networking nights, to working on diversity representation within the School of Informatics, I’ve been committed to making sure gender-diverse students feel seen, celebrated, and supported, not just in classrooms, but in every facet of university life. These efforts have shown me how much of a difference a connected, inclusive student community can make – especially in a field that often feels isolating for those at the margins.
That’s why I began working with Rewriting the Code as their UK & Ireland Ambassador for Scotland, mentoring and supporting women and non-binary students in tech. Alongside my studies, I organised and led workshops, panels, and outreach efforts on campus, bringing students together across disciplines to build confidence and community. Through mentorship programs and peer-led support spaces, I’ve tried to bridge what I call the “confidence gap”, that inner voice that tells brilliant women they aren’t ready, or qualified, or enough. Time and again, I’ve seen how community can suppress that voice and awaken self-belief.
My advocacy work hasn’t been limited to tech. Feminism, for me, has always been intersectional. After receiving the Generation Google Scholarship for Women in Computer Science, I was able to fund the Ukrainian Refugee Home Education Programme in collaboration with Little Sisters of the Poor. With an incredible team of fellow University students and alumni, we provided one-on-one STEM tutoring to displaced Ukrainian women, ensuring that war and trauma didn’t rob them of their right to learn and thrive.
This commitment to care and advocacy deepened further during a period in which I faced an unexpected health challenge of my own. That experience reshaped my understanding of vulnerability, resilience, and the critical need for compassionate, inclusive healthcare systems - especially for young women. It became not just a personal turning point, but a catalyst for my involvement in the NHS TYA Cancer in Young Women & Youth Advisory Forum. There, I’ve worked to ensure that young women navigating serious health diagnoses receive the kind of emotional and structural support they deserve; because no one should have to advocate for their own dignity while also managing the weight of a life-altering condition.
Receiving this award is an incredible honour - not just for me, but for the mentors, students, peers, and communities who have been part of this journey at the University of Edinburgh and beyond. I hope that in sharing my story, someone else on campus will feel encouraged to take up space, to lead, to challenge, or to care. That’s what trailblazing looks like. It isn’t about spotlight or scale, it’s about believing change is possible, and then daring to build it.
To every young woman or gender-diverse student who has ever wondered if they’re “enough”: you are. And your voice, your ideas, your presence, especially in rooms where you’ve been told you don’t belong, matter more than you know. So, take up all the space you want and need! :)
Author Bio:
Aagoon Chakraborty (she/her) is a final-year undergraduate at the University of Edinburgh, studying AI and Computer Science. She’s passionate about building inclusive spaces in tech, advocating for equity in education and healthcare, and mentoring women and non-binary students in STEM. Outside of academics and activism, she loves learning new languages, playing guitar, and overthinking her next chess move - usually with a cup of chai nearby.