Dr. Nidhi S. Sabharwal is a National Fellow at the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA). Previously, she served as an Associate Professor at the Centre for Policy Research in Higher Education (CPRHE) at NIEPA, New Delhi, India. She also holds the position of Honorary Associate Professor in the Department of Education Studies at the University of Warwick, United Kingdom.

Dr. Sabharwal has previously been the In-Charge of CPRHE/NIEPA and has also served as the Director of the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies. She is a recipient of the SRHE Accolade for Contribution to the Field of Higher Education Research, an international award from The Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE)(https://srhe.ac.uk/accolade- winners/#1721742400841-ce1653a8-9061).

She has conducted extensive research on the development concerns of the poor, especially the scheduled caste groups. She has studied inter-group inequalities across human development indicators, focusing on the role of caste- and gender-based disadvantages in market and non- market institutions, as well as diversity and inclusion within higher educational institutions, the Mid-Day Meal and Anganwadi programmes, and social protection and affirmative action policies. She has also studied excluded groups in other countries, such as the Burakumin in Japan.

Dr. Sabharwal's current research focuses on access, college readiness, student diversity, and equity in higher education. She has extensive experience conducting multi-state and multi- institutional research studies using a mixed-methods approach on equity in higher education. Dr Sabharwal has extensively published on issues in her research area, with nearly 100 outputs ranging from books and chapters to peer-reviewed journal articles, including substantial Scopus-indexed publications, as well as training modules and policy briefs.