RESEARCH PROFILE:

Dr. Ismat Abbas

Assistant Professor, Social Sciences & Liberal Arts - SESS
Email: iabbas@iba.edu.pk

Dr. Ismat Abbas is an accomplished academic and educator with a PhD in Family Science and Human Development from Montclair State University in New Jersey, USA. She currently serves as an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) in Karachi and brings more than two decades of experience in education, leadership, and mentoring.

Dr. Ismat specializes in teaching Social Sciences and Liberal Arts, with a focus on human behavior, interpersonal dynamics, and leadership in multicultural contexts. Her scholarship centers on educational access for marginalized communities, immigration challenges, and feminist approaches across diverse sociocultural settings. She has a deep understanding of family and relational conflict, gained through doctoral research and teaching in human development and social systems. She has successfully mentored several individuals seeking admission to graduate school in the U.S., guiding them through high-stakes decisions and interpersonal challenges. She has received training through the prestigious Stanford Life Design program and integrated design-thinking principles into conflict-resolution and career-development coaching. She is passionate about coaching and mentoring school leaders, managers, and supervisors, equipping them with data-driven leadership skills to enhance their professional growth and career trajectories. Currently, her research focuses on educational access and sense of belonging among minoritized students on campus, the career and educational challenges of Pakistani immigrant women in the US, and AI-related challenges for faculty in higher education in Pakistan.