Faculty and staff

Dr Khyati Shetty is the recipient of the GCC Education Leaders Award-2019,2020 and GCC Women Leaders Award-2017,2019, and the former Dean of Curtin University, Dubai, an Australian University ranked amongst the top 250 universities in the world. She holds an MBA (Marketing) degree, PG Degree in Human Resource Management, and a Doctorate in Brand Personality Congruence. She also was awarded the Senior Fellow Higher Education Academy (UK) for her contribution to Academic Leadership. Khyati comes with 15+ years of experience working in academia and the industry. She started her career in Corporate Strategy, potential market estimation, product development, and branding passion for transforming individuals led her to flourish by working with high-potential leaders, executives, and entrepreneurs. She has conducted over 200+ workshops on four continents. She has also worked as a leadership consultant for Government bodies in Nigeria, Ghana, Dubai, Maldives, Sri Lanka, India and Mauritius. For her contribution to the space of women empowerment, she was recognised in the G-100: Group of 100 Global Women Leaders as the Country Chair for Canada in the Higher Education sector in April 2023.  Khyati also regularly contributes to Forbes and CNBC and serves as a Director on the Board of the Fraser Valley Indo-Canadian Business Association, Canada, Higher Education Digest, UK and All Hands, Sydney. Her research areas are brand strategy, Strategic Marketing and Women’s Entrepreneurship.

Dr. Shetty's teaching philosophy was shaped by early experiences as a student, encountering a passive transmittal model of education. Fueled by a natural enthusiasm and energy, she sought an engaging learning environment. This desire to transform education guided her approach when she transitioned into teaching business students. Embracing Constructivist Teaching, which emphasizes active learning and the notion that knowledge is constructed, not passively absorbed, Dr. Shetty aims to foster a learner-centric atmosphere of self-discovery. She challenges students to think critically, solve complex problems, and generate knowledge rather than simply regurgitate information.

As an evolving educator, Dr. Shetty remains committed to innovation in the classroom. She strives to cultivate an environment where students are active participants, unafraid to take risks and learn through self-discovery. While acknowledging the challenges, she draws from past successes to fuel her belief in her ability to effect meaningful change as a teacher. Dr. Shetty sees teaching not only as a profession but as a calling to make a difference in the lives of her students. Her teaching philosophy is deeply rooted in the belief that education is a dynamic process of discovery and growth.

Dr. Shetty's research interests primarily encompass the domains of branding, women's entrepreneurship, and strategic marketing. In her pursuit of understanding branding dynamics, she champions an interdisciplinary and holistic research philosophy, recognizing branding as a fluid and ever-evolving process influenced by both internal and external factors. Her pioneering doctoral work, titled "Dynamics of Brand Personality Congruence and its Effect on Trust, Satisfaction and Brand Loyalty," delved into the intricate relationship between consumers' personality traits and brand personality congruence. This research yielded a comprehensive model illustrating the influence of Brand Personality Congruence (BPC) on post-purchase evaluation, encompassing factors such as customer satisfaction, trust, and brand loyalty. Dr. Shetty's commitment to expanding the discourse on branding continues as she explores its nuances across various industries and within the context of luxury branding and personal branding.

Complementing her expertise in branding, Dr. Shetty has made significant contributions to the field of women's entrepreneurship. Shaped by her experiences as a consultant for the Dubai Chamber of Commerce, where she spearheaded entrepreneurial boot camps aimed at equipping women entrepreneurs with innovation readiness, she has played a pivotal role in understanding and bridging the gender gap in business ownership and performance, particularly in the Middle East. Her ground-breaking research in this area, received research funding from Dubai SME (Government of UAE). The research study was also recognised by the Diana Project-2018 as the best project and was accepted to be published in the book, ‘Programs, Policies, & Practices around High Growth Women's Entrepreneurship’, Edgar Publishing. Another of the projects on Women Entrepreneurs and social comparison won The Best High Growth Women’s Entrepreneurship Paper (2020) & The Lilian Dreyer Advocate Award- ICSB Conference (2020).

Her multifaceted research journey embodies a commitment to collaborative exploration, intellectual courage in pursuing unconventional ideas, and a dedication to lifelong learning, all aimed at advancing knowledge and fostering positive change within her chosen research domains.

McMullen, J., Fitzsimmons, J., Shetty, K. & Ramoglou, S. (2023)- “A Temporal; Typology of Entrepreneurial Opportunities: Implications for the Urgency and Timing of Entrepreneurial Action.” (2023 Best Conceptual Paper)

Shetty, K., Fitzsimmons, J.R., Khan, S. (2019), “Entrepreneurship and Emirati Women: Social Comparison Orientation as a Motivation for Self-Employment”, Paper presented at the 64^th International Council for Small Business World Congress, Cairo, Egypt – Won The Best High Growth Women’s Entrepreneurship Paper (2020) & The Lilian Dreyer Advocate Award- ICSB 2020.

Shetty K., Khan, S., Fitzsimmons, J.R., (2018), “Women Entrepreneurs and Their Subjective WellBeing: The Effects of Social Comparison Orientation”, Paper presented at the Diana International Research Conference 2018, Bangkok University, Thailand. (Best Paper Award)

Fitzsimmons, J.R., Shetty, K. (2019), “Timing is Everything: Untangling the Temporal Element in Entrepreneurial Opportunity”, presented at the 79th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM), Boston

Sangboon, K., Shetty K., Schjoedt, L., Fitzsimmons, J.R., (2018), “Emirati Women Entrepreneurs: The Effects of Work and Family on Life Satisfaction”, Paper presented at the Diana International Research Conference 2018, Bangkok University, Thailand

Schjoedt, L., Mumi, A., Sangboon, K., Fitzsimmons, J.R., Shetty, K. (2018), “Social media in opportunity recognition: Effects of entrepreneurs’ control beliefs”, Paper to be presented at the Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference, Waterford, Ireland

Sangboon, K., Shetty K., Schjoedt L., Fitzsimmons, J.R. (2018), “Entrepreneurship and the Pursuit of Happiness: The Dueling Domains of Work and Family, Paper presented at the 2nd Annual Entrepreneurship Conference, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, February 2018

Shetty, K., Dungca, A.P., Ormita, L.A., (April 2015). Emotional Competence on Work Family Conflict: A Cross-Cultural Study, International Conference on Advances in Management, Economics and Social Science, Rome, Italy.

Biju, S., Shetty, K. (June 2015) “Dimensions of Brand Personality for the Education Industry” WBI, Singapore (Best Paper Award)

James, F., Shetty, K., (2015) “Crowdsourcing-Making the Crowds Work for your Marketing” for an International Conference,” Recent Trends in Management “SEC, Paris

Shetty, K., Fitzsimmons, J. R., & Anand, A. (2023). Entrepreneurship as a career choice for Emirati women: a social cognitive perspective. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 30(1), 58-77.

Fitzsimmons, J.R., Shetty, K., & Prashant, K. (2022). The Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: a bibliometric overview since its inception. 10.1108/JFMM-03-2022-290.

Shetty, K., & Fitzsimmons, J.R (2022), The Effect of Brand Personality Congruence, Brand Attachment, and Brand Love on Loyalty in the Luxury Branding Sector”, Journal of Product and Brand Management (ABDC, Scopus Indexed)

Kumar, P., Shetty, K., Fitzsimmons, J.R. and Hayes, S.G. (2022), "The Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: a bibliometric overview since its inception", Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 197-220. (ABDC,Scopus Indexed)

Biju, S., Shetty, K., & Fitzsimmons, J.R (2021), Cracking the Glass Ceiling: A study on the perceptions of gender discrimination in Universities”(2021), for Career Development International, Emerald Insight

Shetty, K., Adkins, O., & Fitzsimmons, J. (2020). In Understanding social media and Entrepreneurship: The Business of Hashtags, Likes and Tweets. Springer Publication. (Book Chapter)

Schjoedt, L., Mumi, A., Sangboon, K., Fitzsimmons, J., & Datta, K. S. (2018). Social media in opportunity recognition: Effects of entrepreneurs’ control beliefs. In A. Zacharakis et al. (Eds.), Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research. Wellesley, MA: Babson College.

Datta, K. S., & Vardhan, J. (2017). A SERVQUAL-Based Framework for Assessing Quality and Brand Perception of International Branch Campuses in UAE: A Management Students’ Perspective. SAGE, 7(1), (Scopus Indexed, ABDC Listed)

Shetty, K., & Rodrigues, L. (2017). Winning the Battle for Customers in the Age of New Banking with Brand Personality Congruence. International Journal of Economic Research, Emerald14(2), 273-283. (ABDC, Scopus Indexed)

Shetty, K., & Rodrigues, L. (2017). Dynamics of Brand Personality Congruence and its influence on Trust, Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty in Banking: An Empirical Study. International Journal of Applied Business and Economic Research, SAGE 15(3), 95-105. (ABDC, Scopus Indexed)

Biju, S., & Shetty, K. (2015). Brand Personality Dimensions and the Advertising Industry – The Case of the Journal of Product and Brand Management, 10(2), 113-126. doi:10.21102/jbpr.2015.12.102.07(ABDC Indexed)

Bhavani, G., & Shetty, K. (2017). A Study on Demographics and Perceptions of Investors Avenues. Accounting and Finance Research, 6(2), 198-205. (ABDC Listed)

Shetty, K., & Rao, G. (2017). Understanding The Customer's Attitude Towards Acceptance and Usage of Online Banking Services Using Utaut Model, International Journal of Economic Research, 14(11), 208- 218.
(ABDC, Scopus Indexed)

Lenin, K., & Shetty, K. (2014). Measuring Service Quality in the U.A.E and its Influence on Brand Personality in Banking. Global Journal for Research Analysis, 3(10), 97-101. (ABDC Indexed)

Sai Sachidhananda, S and Shetty, Khyati and Pallavi, D.R and Jyothilaxmi, (2017) Mercenary - A Mirage of Success: A Case Study with Reference to International Arena. International Journal of Applied Business and Economic Research, 15. pp. 119-126. ISSN 0972-7302 (ABDC, Scopus Indexed)