Dr Suraiya Abdul Hameed

Dr Hameed is an interdisciplinary leader, educator, and researcher specializing in Educational Leadership at the University of Queensland. With a distinguished 30-year career, she has dedicated her expertise to curriculum and policy development, with a particular focus on internationalization and global education. Born and raised in Singapore, Dr. Hameed's Indigenous Malay heritage has profoundly shaped her perspective on educational leadership and fueled her passion for incorporating diverse cultural frameworks into leadership practices. Her deep connection to her roots informs her approach to creating inclusive educational environments that honor and integrate various cultural traditions and knowledge systems. As the Director of the Master of Educational Studies programme, Dr. Hameed has transformed the curriculum to enhance its global perspective, recognizing the opportunity to better align educational offerings with the evolving needs of UQ's diverse student body and the demands of our increasingly interconnected world.

Her research concentrates on Educational Leadership, Global Policy and Education, and Equity, Inclusion, Diversity and Culture. Dr. Hameed's innovative research projects aim to achieve breakthroughs in developing leaders equipped to support 21st-century schools. She currently leads multiple international research initiatives designed to improve educational outcomes and generate valuable networking opportunities with international educators and school leaders. At UQ's School of Education, which she joined in 2020, Dr. Hameed drives two core Leadership modules and has spearheaded the development of an innovative Global Indigenous course launched in 2021. Her comprehensive strategy encompasses redesigning course content to incorporate global perspectives, building capacity for staff focused on international pedagogies, and creating inclusive learning environments that prioritize both academic excellence and student wellbeing, particularly for diverse international cohorts. Dr. Hameed's extensive experience in varied leadership roles has translated into positive student engagement and improved student trajectories, while producing groundbreaking research in the leadership domain. Her work has contributed invaluably to the leadership field, helping to bridge the gap between theory and practice and assisting students and colleagues in making meaningful connections between theoretical constructs and real-life applications in leadership.

She is currently leading multiple international research which aims at engagement with international counterparts to improve educational outcomes and to generate networking opportunities with international educators and school leaders. One of her notable works is with National Institute of Education Singapore in the ongoing UQ/NIE research excellence partnership. Dr Hameed's extensive experiences in varied leadership roles have translated into positive student engagement, positive student's trajectories as well as ground-breaking research in the leadership front. It has also allowed her to contribute invaluably to the leadership field and assist in bridging the gap between theory and practice, thus assisting students and her other colleagues to make meaningful connections between theoretical constructs and real-life applications in leadership. She is a recipient of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders (ACEL) Commendation award (2021) and the Australian Council for Educational Leaders (ACEL) National Award (2023) recognising her work within the leadership space.