Sheila Gupta studied History and Politics as an undergraduate and has postgraduate qualifications in Management Studies and Human Resource Management. She began her career in Local Government at a time of major policy changes including Compulsory Competitive Tendering and Local Management of Schools, providing her with firsthand experience of managing complex change.
She assumed her first role in Higher Education (HE) in 1990 and has subsequently worked in institutions spanning pre and post 1992, specialist institutions and the Russell Group, either as Director of Human Resources or the equivalent. Her most recent experience was at the University of Sussex, where she was also a member of the University Executive Group, prior to which she was at the Universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh.
Sheila is also a former Chair of the Russell Group HR Directors Forum and Universities HR, the professional body for HR professionals in HE. In 2006, she received an MBE for services to Higher Education and became a Leadership Foundation Fellow for Higher Education. She also served as an Independent Member of the Education Honours Committee for six years.
She has been invited to speak at conferences in the UK, Europe and the US, on topics relating to good governance, talent management, embedding equality and diversity into leadership development programmes and advancing gender equality.
Her talk about promoting inclusivity in STEMM will take place on 25th March 2021 at 1:30pm GMT.