
BA, DipEd (S. Africa), MEd (Sydney), EdD (UNSW), Licentiate (RAM, London), Grad Dip TESOL (S. Australia), GAICD
Professor Prem Ramburuth
Prem Ramburuth is Emeritus Professor at UNSW. She was Professor in International Business, School of Management and Governance, UNSW Sydney. She has held several leadership positions at UNSW including Immediate Past President of the Academic Board, Associate Dean Education, Associate Dean Undergraduate Programs, Head of School of Management, Foundation Director of the Business School Academic Development Centre, Deputy Director of the UNSW Learning Centre, and Director of Overseas English Language Programs at the UNSW Institute of Languages. She researches and teaches in Cross-Cultural and Diversity Management in Business and Higher Education and is a member of several editorial boards including the Journal for Multicultural Education, International Journal of Emerging Markets and Chinese Management Studies. Her current research interests focus on International Business and Cross-Cultural Management, Emerging Economies, China’s Global Growth in Africa, Gender Equity and the Empowerment of Women in the Workplace, and Higher Education in Africa.
Professor Ramburuth is the Academic Lead for Africa at the UNSW Institute for Global Development. In this role, she oversees transformative development programs in capacity building and training for academic staff, PhD training, and the establishment of formal Higher Education qualifications for academic staff in Uganda. She is a UNSW PLuS Alliance Fellow and the Academic Lead for PLuS Alliance Africa and is engaged in the establishment of PhD institutes in Africa. She is former Chair of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) Academic Board, is on the Panel of Experts for the Australian Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency (TEQSA), and was a Higher Education Program Assessor for the Fiji National Higher Education Commission. She is Visiting Professor at Gulu University (Uganda), and has been Visiting Professor at VNU Hanoi Business School (Vietnam), University of Colorado (Denver), and University Tunku Abdul Rahman (Malaysia). She is the recipient of four national and international teaching excellence awards, and the Dean’s Distinguished Leadership Award in the UNSW Business School (2019).
My research activities span across the areas of Management in International Business, and Management in the Internationalization of Higher Education, and, more recently, in Emerging Economies. The intersection of these dimensions to my research has enabled me to contribute to the literature on managing across cultures in International Business; managing across cultures in emerging economies including in countries across Africa, Asia and other regions; and managing issues of equity, diversity and inclusion in Business. It has served to highlight the importance understanding cultural differences, not only in business, but also in education, to address diversity of thought and actions, variation in culture, and approaches to learning and teaching. The combined research streams have informed my strategic initiatives in focusing on education, training, and capacity building as drivers of economic development in emerging economies. Essentially, my research seeks to translate into practical application in order to have impact in 'real world' contexts. It seeks sustainable solutions to management in International Business and Management in Emerging Economies, and incorporates the UN Sustainability Goals across the 17 strategic targets that aim to transform the world.
I have made significant contributions in the Business School at UNSW, nationally and internationally.
Leadership in Business School and UNSW:
Leadership International:
Leadership in the Profession:
Editorial Boards and Reviewer (current):
Professional Memberships (current)
Membership of Gender Equity Networks and Engagement:
My Teaching
My teaching interests in the various dimensions of International Business focuses on training students in Cross-Cultural Management, to prepare them for participating in the complexities of the rapidly changing global business environment -as leaders, employers, employees and members of civil society. It highlights the importance of individual, group, socio-cultural and organizational values that influence engagement in International Business and global business environments. It has involved course design, curriculum development, course coordination and teaching delivery in the former School of Management and current School of Management and Governance, and includes:
I also taught externally, in concurrent courses at other universities, including: