Dr. Arig al Shaibah has worked in higher education for over 20 years. Prior to arriving at McMaster, Arig was Vice-Provost (Student Affairs) and Acting Executive Director (Human Rights & Equity) at Dalhousie University, and, before that, Assistant Dean (Student Life and Learning) at Queen’s University. Arig holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration and a PhD in Education (Cultural and Policy Studies). Her doctoral research involved a study of the perspectives of senior administrators with respect to the equity barriers and enablers in higher education.

While in her administrative posts, Arig has held adjunct faculty appointments in Interdisciplinary Studies, Gender Studies, and Sociology Departments. She has maintained a teaching load, instructing upper year students in courses such as Race and Racism, Feminist Pedagogy, and Diversity & Human Rights Inquiry. As a scholar-practitioner, Arig actively engages research projects related to advancing EDI and inclusive excellence, and her areas of academic and professional interest include questions of how to effectively build individual and institutional capacity for inclusive and antiracist leadership and organizational change in higher education.