May Abdallah Al-Dabbagh is an Assistant Professor of Social Research and Public Policy at New York University Abu Dhabi with an associated appointment at the Robert Wagner School of Public Service at NYU in New York. Previously, she was the Founder and Director of the Gender and Public Policy Program at the Dubai School of Government and a Research Fellow at the Women and Public Policy Program, HKS, Harvard University.

Al-Dabbagh is a specialist on gender and globalization in the Middle East and has conducted research on the topic using a combination of social psychology, public policy, and feminist lenses. Her current research projects include: the psychology of globalization; gender and negotiation; feminist activism in Saudi Arabia, and the intersections of family formation and women’s work in the Gulf Cooperative Council countries (GCC). Al-Dabbagh has publications in both academic and policy outlets in Arabic and English and her work has been featured in over 40 local, regional, and international media outlets. She is a member of a number of local and international associations such as the Arab Women and Gender Studies Consortium in the UAE, the Development Forum (Academic Social Sciences Society in the GCC), and the Saudi Sunday group (Multaqa Ahadi), the Academy of Management (AOM) and the American Psychological Association (APA).

Al-Dabbagh is a graduate of Dhahran Ahliyya Schools in Saudi Arabia, received a B.A. in Psychology (with high honors) from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Oxford. She is married to Hashem Montasser and they have one son, Abdallah, who keeps them both highly entertained.