Dr Rachel Masika is a multidisciplinary social scientist researching higher education and student experience. She holds a BA (Hons) Political Science and French, an MSc (Econ) Development Studies and a PhD in Development Studies. She has taught on Business Management programmes at the Sussex Business School and on international development programmes for the School of Global Studies, Sussex University and Birkbeck College, University of London. She has guest lectured for the Development Planning Unit at University College London for the past four years. Previously, she was a researcher at the Institute of Development Studies, after working in international development NGOs, corporates and promoting corporate social responsibility to, and brokering education business partnerships for, corporates for a business membership organisation. She continues to research in the field of international development and consult for governments and international organisations.

Rachel is a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Learning and Teaching.  She is currently researching factors contributing to course improvements in NSS scores and rural students' higher education transitions experiences in South Africa. Since joining the University of Brighton, she has researched institutional, national and international higher education issues in relation to the following projects:  

• ESRC/Newton funded Southern African Rurality in Higher Education (SARiHE)
• Brighton and Sussex Medical School initiated study into the Impact of a Novel Approach to Teaching General Practice
• UKCISA funded First Year International Students’ Experiences of Starting their Degrees in UK Universities
• HEFCE funded Understanding the Demand for and Characteristics of Professional Doctorate Programmes in English HEIs
• HEA funded Defining and Supporting the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Sector-wide Study
• HEA funded What Works? Student Retention and Success
• British Academy funded Collaborative Learning Circles: Developing Female Academics as Researchers and Supervisors in the Social Sciences and the Humanities
• HEA funded Social Justice and Critical Professionalism
• British Council managed/DFID funded Connections for Sustainable Change
• NTFS funded Doctoral Learning Journeys

She draws on multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives of, and approaches to, understanding student engagement and success, widening participation, teaching excellence and research capacity building. Her research interests include: enhancing student learning, outcomes and the quality of teaching; higher education pedagogic research, policy and impact; equity in higher education and; gender.  

Rachel co-chairs the university’s annual pedagogic research conference, Enhancing Higher Education through Research and is the Editor for the conference publication, Research Matters.  She co-leads the Higher Education Pedagogies and Policy Research and Enterprise group, chairs the Centre for Learning and Teaching Research Ethics Committee and is member of the Social Sciences cross-school Research Ethics Committee and the School of Education Research and Enterprise Committee.

Rachel is currently on the supervision team for Joe Waghorne on his thesis, 'Postgraduate research in professional practice: processes, challenges, supervision, support, and success'.  She is interested in supervising projects on:

• Higher education pedagogies and policy

• Equity and inclusivity in higher education

• Widening participation in higher education

• Higher education students' transitions and experience

• Higher education student learning and teaching

• Higher education pedagogic research development