How a 21-year-old McMaster student landed an interview with Iceland's former PM, Katrín Jakobsdóttir

For just a bonus of one per cent on an assignment, McMaster University student Ashima Sharma found her way into an interview with Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Iceland's second female prime minister.

"I'm [someone] who likes to think out of the box, and I'm kind of enthusiastic about everything," Sharma told CBC Hamilton. "So if an idea clicks [in] my mind, I follow it until I complete it."

Sharma is an international student from New Delhi who's in the honours philosophy program at the Hamilton university.

"The big goal is go through law school and become a criminal lawyer," she said.

Gender equality, literature and the challenges of women in politics were among the topics discussed during the interview.

"I was really nervous, but I was excited," said Sharma.

"When I saw [Jakobsdóttir], half my nervousness went away, because she was smiling. She was polite. She was kind with me," she said.

Jakobsdóttir was prime minister from 2017 to April 2024. Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir became Iceland's first female PM, serving four years starting in 2009.

'I was very excited for her,' professor says

The assignment was for Sharma's class Politics, Power, and Influence in Canada.

Prof. Lev Marder started giving the assignment during the pandemic as a small way for students to "connect with someone that they haven't connected [with] before."

"It's someone that they might admire, someone whose job they might want in the future," Marder told CBC Hamilton.

Other students usually contact other McMaster professors or law firms, but Sharma went "above and beyond."

"I was very excited for her," said Marder. "It's an incredible opportunity that she took for herself."

Sharma's interview came at the perfect time, as one of the next topics in the class will be women's representation in party politics. Marder plans to use the interview to have students reflect and discuss Sharma's gathering.

"I'll definitely use this as an example for students of what they're able to do … Look at what [Sharma] managed to achieve just with a few emails and persistence, and how well she did that," he said.

Persistence pays off for student

Sharma said she also reached out to former prime minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern, who replied to her request but was unavailable for an interview.

The key to getting the interview with Jakobsdóttir? Persistence.

A lot of people know that Iceland is doing well in gender equality. But I wish that the world would look more closely at how we have achieved that.- Katrin Jakobsdóttir, in interview with student Ashima Sharma

Sharma found four email addresses for Jakobsdóttir and emailed her daily until she got a reply.

"I expressed how I wanted to interview her and how she inspires me, and she got quite impressed with what I said, and then she just said yes," said Sharma.

She prepared her questions for over a week before the actual interview, with the help of an experienced journalist from India and Marder, focusing most around gender equality.

Iceland is one of the leading countries in women's equality, according to the 2023 Women Peace and Security Index.

Sharma said she wanted to take advantage of that and learn what she could from Jakobsdóttir.

'Find strength in solidarity'

Her conversation with Jakobsdóttir had many highlights, but her favourite moment was when she asked the former PM for words of encouragement for "young women worldwide [who want] to pursue their ambitions."

"Find strength in solidarity," Jakobsdóttir said. "It's sometimes very lonely to be a woman in politics. And therefore, I say it's important to have more women at the table."

Another of Sharma's favourite moments was a rapid-fire set at the end where she asked Jakobsdóttir a few quick questions, including one about her favourite Icelandic word.

"That's a good one," Jakobsdóttir said during the interview. "A word that many of us are very fond of is ljósmóður, which means midwife. But in Icelandic, it really means the mother of light."

Sharma also asked about Iceland's approach to gender equality, their inclusion of marginalized communities in climate policies and one thing about Iceland she wishes more people knew.

"A lot of people know that Iceland is doing well in gender equality," said Jakobsdóttir. "But I wish that the world would look more closely at how we have achieved that.

"We have a very strong women's movement in Iceland and that movement has actually fought for structural changes."

She said it's important to ensure women can have families and also a career.

"It also matters to have women in politics, not just as role models, but also to take and make decisions because it's my firm belief that you get better decisions when both men and women are at the table," she told Sharma.

After the interview, Sharma said she's "more motivated to explore and try new things, because this one paid off."

"I also aspire to be in politics someday — not in my near future. I want to be a lawyer first."