School of Geography and the Environment

I completed my BA (Hons) in Human Sciences at Magdalen College, University of Oxford (2014) during which I received a scholarship to study at Stanford University's Sophomore College. I then completed my MA at School of Oriental and African Studies (2015), after which I pursued my PhD at University College London, which I have recently successfully defended (July 2019). During the final year of my PhD I was a VAR fellow at Yale University's Department of Anthropology under Professor Marcia Inhorn's supervision. Since 2019, I have been teaching and lecturing at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) University of London, and the University of Edinburgh. At Edinburgh I was also the Deputy Programme Director for Social Research. In 2022, I joined Oxford University's School of Geography and Environment as a Departmental Lecturer, associated with Mansfield College.

I am also keen to channel my research findings into policies that can make positive social change at the grassroots level. I founded the Equality Act Review in 2018 to protect and improve the Equality Act 2010 in order to create a just, fair, and equal society for all. I conduct various equality research through the organisation and employ this in the influencing of policy, by advising and briefing MPs and Ministers. I previously worked as a researcher for the APPG on Muslim Women and APPG British Muslims.

Research Interests

Migration and Diaspora Studies, Race and Racialisation, Masculinity Studies, Inequality and Social Mobility, British Muslims, Anthropology of Gender, Anthropology of Religions, Nationalism and Statehood, Anthropology of Policy and Practice, Liminality, Precarity and Waithood Studies, Ethnography, Intersectionality, Decolonisation, Employment and Discrimination Law.

Forthcoming books

• Racialisation of Islam: British Muslims as Tools for Nation Making.
• Bartered Bridegrooms: Muslims Masculinities in Transnational Marriage Migration.

Selected publications

• Bi, S. (2022) Equality Act 12 Years On. Equality Act Review.
• Bi, S. (2021) Equality Act 10 Years On. Equality Act Review.
• Bi, S. (2021) The Cycle of Decolonisation: A tool for applying anthropology to policy and practice and achieving social justice. LSE Impact Blog.
• Bi, S. (2020) Empowered Employment: Unlocking the workplace for Muslim Women. Equality Act Review.
• Bi, S. (2020) Predicting Futures 2.0: Examining student experiences of predicted grades amidst coronavirus exam cancellations. Equality Act Review.
• Bi, S. (2020) Predicting Futures: A UK wide study examining student concerns amidst June 2020 coronavirus exam cancellations. Equality Act Review.
• Bi, S. (2020) Racialisation of Rescuehood: Contextualising British Muslims stuck abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of British Muslim Studies.
• Bi, S. (2020) The community supermarkets exploiting vulnerable British Muslims during the Coronavirus Pandemic: Implications for Immunity, Physical/Mental Health, and Social Trust. Journal of British Muslim Studies.
• Bi, S. (2020) The School as Double-Edged Panopticon: A child-centred perspective of the Trojan Horse Affair. Journal of Muslim Minority Studies, 40(2).
• Bi, S. (2019) More than Multiple Jeopardy: Navigating the Legal System as a British-Muslim-Woman-Litigant-in-Person. Journal of Muslims in Europe, 8(3): 247-264.
• Bi, S. (2018) Panopticons, Power and Pleasure: Why the Hijab is not a problem. Journal of Muslim Minority Studies, 38(1): 139-141.
• Bi, S. (2017) Holes in my Hijab: Conquering the Subaltern Muslim Woman. Wordpress Blog.

Media features

• Sky News: Equality Act 10 Years On report, July 2021.
• ITV News: New report shows predicted grades could unfailrly predict futurees of students. June 2020.
• Huffington Post: If my grades were predicted I would never have studied at Oxford and Yale, June 2020.
• Channel 4 News: Over 100,000 exam results to be upgraded after Scottish government u-turn, August 2020.
• Huffington Post: This years disastrous A-level results are just the beginning of catastrophe, August 2020.
• Byline Times: The exam grading system stille xacerbates inequality despite Williamson's u-turn, August 2020.