I am an Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship in the Department of Entrepreneurship and Strategy. Born to British and Syrian parents and raised between the Middle East and Europe, I became fascinated by gender and how its construction in society impacted local socio-political and economic development across country contexts.

My passion and intrigue on the topic led me to study for a BSc in Psychology at Lancaster University, followed by the MSc in Management at Lancaster University Management School, where I realised I could merge my degrees into a PhD research project.

I then undertook my PhD at The University of Aberdeen and went on to a postdoctoral research position at Stockholm Business School focused on gender, entrepreneurship and empowerment in the contexts of Saudi Arabia and Sweden.

I joined Lancaster in 2016, and in 2017 I was awarded Pump Priming funding by the Management School and I was also supported by the University’s Global Challenges Kick starter Fund. These were invaluable in allowing me to delve deeper into exploring the area of gender, entrepreneurship and poverty alleviation, specifically women’s refugee-entrepreneurship in Jordan, the Zaatari refugee camp and the UK.

The Department of Entrepreneurship and Strategy has been an incredibly supportive community, providing me with feedback in departmental seminars, and sometimes, over a coffee in our social room or down the corridor! Our vibrant research community is always ready to welcome PhD students, and I am personally looking forward to receiving your PhD applications and working with you in this area of research soon!