Dr Samar Gad

Throughout my higher education teaching experience in the UK and overseas, I have tested and crafted a set of optimal methods to design remarkable learning experiences. For example, I personalise teaching by using learning analytics on a weekly basis. I capture students' initial level of experience/skill, special topic requests, and feedback on my teaching style and the taught material. Given the students' diverse backgrounds, I combine different teaching methods such as gamification, self-learning, and collaborative learning. My signature teaching style is to provide opportunities for students to be co-creators of their course. I design self-instructed material and pre-record videos for every topic. I also teach in a hybrid mode (on campus and via Microsoft Teams) to support students who are not in the UK. This has led to a better student engagement, grades, and student employability. My approach has received praise, and I was nominated by students for the Vice-Chancellor Distinguished Teaching Award in 2020 and 2022. I received the best emerging paper award at the Annual BAFA conference (Accounting Education SIG) 2019, which commended my teaching approach.

Areas of teaching

• Finance
• Financial data analytics
• Financial econometrics
• Business intelligence using Excel

Qualifications

• Certified Management and Business Educator - Chartered Association of Business Schools
• Senior Fellow of Higher Education Academy - Advance HE
• Certified Professional Trainer - Training of Trainers (TOT)

Course director

• Accounting and Finance BSc (Hons)
• Master of Business Administration (MBA)

Courses taught

• Master of Business Administration (MBA)

Publications

• Gad, S. & Andrikopoulos, P. (2019), Diversification benefits of Shari'ah compliant equity ETFs in emerging markets, Pacific-Basin Finance Journal. 53, p. 133-144
• Gad, S., Andrikopoulos, P., Cui, Y. and Kallinterakis, V. (2020) Feedback Trading and the Ramadan Effect in Frontier Markets, Research in International Business and Finance. 51.

Conference presentations

• April 2022 – British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA) Annual Conference, Nottingham, UK
• May 2019 – British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA) Accounting Education Special Interest Group Annual Conference, Ghent, Belgium
• June 2018 – 8th International Conference of the Financial Engineering and Banking Society, Università di Roma Tre, Rome, Italy
• April 2018 – British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA) Annual Conference, Westminster, London, UK
• August 2017 – The 24th Nordic Academy of Management Conference at Nord University Business School, Bodo, Norway
• April 2017 – British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA) Annual Conference at Heriot-Watt University, UK
• September 2016 – Portsmouth – Fordham conference on Banking and Finance at Portsmouth Business School, UK
• April 2015 – International Conference on Islamic Perspective of Accounting, Finance, Economics and Management (IPAFEM) at Adam Smith Business School, Glasgow University
• March 2015 – British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA) Annual Conference at University of Manchester, UK.
• September 2012 – Academy of Business Research (ABR) Conference held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

Completed PhD supervision

• Dalia Sharaf. Thesis title: performance of venture capital-backed firms in an emerging market context.

Specialisms

• Financial stability and resilience
• Behavioural finance
• Islamic banking and finance

Scholarly affiliations

• The Financial Markets Group Research Centre (FMG), London School of Economics
• British Accounting and Finance Association
• Accountability, Governance and the Capital Market Research Hub, Kingston Business School

I am a member of the CFA Institute Practice Analysis Working Body. I support the Education Advisory Committee and practice analysis process by ensuring that the Candidate Bodies of Knowledge and competencies reflect global macro-trends and industry practice for the following credentialing programs: CFA Program, CIPM Program, and the Certificate in ESG Investing.

Industry links

• CFA Institute

I ensure that my teaching is always relevant to industry practices. To that end, I have gradually cultivated a network of highly regarded practitioners from prestigious institutions, such as the London Stock Exchange Group and Barclays. I have utilised this network in many ways, including: 1) organisation of curriculum review and guest speaker events; 2) co-designing the "Inside the Markets" course with LSEG, for final year UG and PG students; 3) co-designing the "Emotional Intelligence for Enhancing Employability" interdisciplinary workshop with CURVE theatre in Leicester, for faculty members and PG students; and 4) co-designing a 7-day training course with practitioners, to equip entrepreneurs with business skills for their ventures (funded by USAID in Egypt).

Professional and scholarly affiliations

• CFA Institute
• Advance HE

I led several administrative roles during my tenure in De Montfort University such as: 1) Faculty Employability Lead in Leicester Castle Business School, and I advised and supported Faculty board members including HODs, to set the faculty employability plan, share good practices and identify gaps to improve graduate outcomes. I also provided training for new staff in induction sessions, to demonstrate effective ways to embed employability skills in their modules; 2) Course Identity Manager to support course directors to offer students hands-on professional experience and job shadowing opportunities.

Qualifications and expertise

• Aurora - Leadership Programme Advance HE - 2019