Dr. Ria Sidhu

Dr. Ria Sidhu works within Academic Partnerships & Transnational Education (TNE) at Bath Spa University, UK, where she leads Assessment Quality Assurance across local UK MSc Global Business (GB) and MSc Project Management (PM) programme partners, UAE partners for the undergraduate Business Management suite (all pathways), and the postgraduate MBA Leadership and MBA General programmes. Dr. Sidhu has extensive experience of the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of assessment frameworks across a diverse portfolio of partnership and transnational education (TNE) provision, ensuring alignment with institutional quality standards and sector best practice.

Dr. Sidhu is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and has accumulated 15 years of experience across some of the UK’s most prominent higher education institutions, including the University of West London, Northumbria University, the University of Bedfordshire, the University of Suffolk, the University of Law, and Arden University. She is recognised as a contemporary transformational academic leader whose expertise sits at the intersection of academic quality assurance, assessment strategy, and innovative pedagogy, with a particular commitment to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) as a driver of disruptive, student-centred learning.

Dr. Sidhu holds a PhD from the University of Bedfordshire, UK, specialising in Business and Management, Pedagogy, and Quality Assurance Policies. Her doctoral thesis — “An Investigation into Mature Students’ Intention to Enrol in UK Higher Education” — contributes to widening participation literature and reflects her enduring commitment to access and equity in higher education. She is an expert in quantitative research methods, including statistics and structural equation modelling (SPSS-AMOS). Her research interests encompass higher education management and pedagogy, the role of artificial intelligence in higher education, and challenges related to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion. She holds an MBA in Entrepreneurship from Anglia Ruskin University and an undergraduate degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering, bringing an interdisciplinary perspective to her academic and leadership practice.

Dr. Sidhu is a Certified Business and Management Educator (CMBE) from the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS) and holds Chartered Manager (CMgr MCMI) status from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), recognising her impactful, evidence-based leadership in higher education. She has received the Outstanding Reviewer Award from the Academy of Management (AOM — ABS 4* Journal) for the quality and rigour of her scholarly peer-review contributions.

Her commitment to EDI and widening participation has been recognised through two successive finalist nominations for Anglia Ruskin University’s Vice-Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumni Award, in recognition of her impactful contributions to EDI advocacy and the higher education community. Dr. Sidhu actively champions women in leadership, having completed the Advance HE Aurora Women Leaders in Higher Education programme. She was invited by United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) to support their “Innovation and Entrepreneurial” programme for UAEU students, delivered in alignment with Stanford University guidelines for entrepreneurial skills development.

Dr. Sidhu’s commitment to integrating emerging technologies into education was recognised when she won first prize in the Global University Systems Hackathon for “Education Co-Pilot,” a project focused on embedding AI tools into academic education to enhance student learning and staff efficiency — an award that reflects her broader research and practice agenda around responsible AI adoption in higher education.

Beyond her academic roles, Dr. Sidhu serves as a School Governor in London, a voluntary commitment that reflects her belief in educational leadership at every level of the system and her ongoing contribution to her local community.