Nexus

Acknowledging TASA

In November 2025 I was given the opportunity to attend and present my PhD research at TASA's conference held at University of Melbourne, Australia (from 24 to 27 November 2025). It was my first time presenting at a conference. I presented my PhD research which is about Muslim Indian and Pakistani immigrants’ parenting values and how adolescents respond to them. My research is employing the mediated dialogue method to enhance harmonious relationships between parents and children through meaningful communication. This research aims to look at a particular ethnicity residing in New Zealand at the same time.

The conference was held at the University of Melbourne in Melbourne. The conference had delegates attending from many countries, meeting people from diverse backgrounds and research fields, hearing them talk about their respective research was quite enriching and informative. There were presenters belonging from Pakistan attending the conference as well, I had the opportunity to mingle with them, discuss my work progress and share ideas. The experience was wonderful, the sessions were educational, the attendees were always mindful and provided meaningful insight and constructive opinions about the presenter’s research. Moreover, I was able to build networks with researchers doing similar research. It was good to hear different perspectives/conversations regarding my work, it opened more than one way of looking at the research. The whole administration was very welcoming and everything was managed perfectly, may it be the conference details, directions to the seminars/presentations or the food provided. I was pleasantly surprised to see the organizers taking great care of people eating only certain diets.

Apart from being selected, I was also awarded a postgraduate travel bursary worth 950 AUD (1102 NZD). Through the bursary money, I was able to attend the conference without any stress and worry. The bursary helped me cover my travel costs from Auckland to Melbourne, accommodation expenses and meals. By being a recipient of this bursary, it gave me a positive sense of achievement and boosted my confidence as well. I will always be indebted to TASA for choosing me for their postgraduate bursary out of, I am sure, many brilliant applicants and I look forward to becoming a part of more TASA conferences in the future.

Regards

Faiqa Ahmad (Postgraduate Bursary Recipient 2025)

Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand