Dareen Assaf
Member since 2025
Academic work finds its true value when it connects to real-world challenges. The UK Young Academy brings together minds that can collectively reimagine what's possible.
Bio
Dareen Assaf is a researcher at Sheffield Hallam University whose work sits at the intersection of higher education, displacement, and gender equity.
A former academic in Syria, Dareen brings lived experience to her scholarship. She developed the concept of “academic statelessness” to describe the invisible barriers that force highly qualified displaced scholars out of the academic system, not because they lack talent, but because the system was never built with them in mind.
Her work asks how universities can do better: for displaced scholars, for women in leadership, and for those whose expertise is consistently overlooked. She holds a British Academy Global Talent Visa and is a committed advocate for a more inclusive and humane academy.
