Associate Director and Full-Time Program Coordinator, Master of Counselling (Vancouver)
Dr. Hawwa Shiuna Musthafa is the Associate Director and Full-Time Program Coordinator for the Master of Counselling program at City University in Vancouver. In this role, she supports the academic and student experience of the Full-Time program, including faculty support, student progression, admissions, academic quality, curriculum and assessment, and program operations. Dr. Hawwa is an accomplished researcher, academic, and educator with more than 15 years of experience across higher education, research, academic leadership, curriculum development and quality assurance. She has held leadership and academic roles including Principal, Senior Research Fellow, Assistant Professor, and Senior Manager. Her academic and research background is multidisciplinary, spanning psychology, sociology, education, curriculum studies, and educational leadership. Dr. Hawwa has contributed to national and international research initiatives, including collaborations with UNICEF and UNDP. She has also served in research ethics leadership and review roles and currently contributes to graduate research and capstone supervision. She serves as a reviewer for peer-reviewed academic journals and international conferences, including Studies in Educational Evaluation, Cogent Education, and the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI). Her contributions to education and research have been recognized through awards, including a Presidential Award presented by the President of the Maldives.
Research
Her research is broadly situated at the intersection of leadership and organizational behaviour, education and research methodology, and social wellbeing and equity. Her interests include toxic and hubristic leadership, workplace bullying and organizational dynamics, educational effectiveness and quality, curriculum and higher education, research methodology and ethics, and mental health and social wellbeing. Her work also examines contemporary social issues affecting youth, women, persons with disabilities, and communities, with a particular interest in research that informs policy and practice and contributes to meaningful social impact.
Publications
Musthafa, H. S. (2026). The hubristic leadership trap: The downward descent into organizational mediocrity. Journal of Multidisciplinary Research & Practice, 1(1). https://jmrap.scholasticahq.com/article/160398-the-hubristic-leadership-trap-the-downward-descent-into-organizational-mediocrity
Musthafa, H. S., Kyriakides, L., & Charalambous, E. (2025). Searching for stages of effective teaching in the Maldives: A study on the dynamic model of educational effectiveness. Education Sciences, 15(5), 598. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15050598
Musthafa, H. S., & Kyriakides, L. (2025). Using student ratings and external observations to detect the effects of quality of teaching on student learning outcomes: A longitudinal study in the Maldives. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 45(4), 1113–1129. https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2023.2261648
Musthafa, H. S., Walker, J., Mehta, M. P., Bordbar, S., Malhotra, D., & Vaishnavi. (2025). Strategic integration of diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) and artificial intelligence (AI) in human resource management (HRM): Current trends and future trajectories. In M. Madanchian (Ed.), Modern trends and future innovation in human resource management (pp. 173–196). IGI Global Scientific Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-6402-4.ch006
Moosa, S., Musthafa, H. S., & Hassan, A. (2024). Challenges and approaches for Agenda 2030: Perspectives of persons with disabilities in a small island context. International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives, 23(1), 25–42. Publication page
Moosa, S., Abdul Raheem, R., Riyaz, A., Musthafa, H. S., & Naeem, A. Z. (2022). The role of social value orientation in modulating vaccine uptake in the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 9, Article 467. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01487-9
Musthafa, H. S., Moosa, S., & Hassan, A. (2022). Virtual focus group discussions: Exploring new frontiers in qualitative methods. The Maldives National Journal of Research, 10(1), 56–73. https://doi.org/10.62338/tqf2zj12
Adam, A. S., Ismail, A. S., Haleem, H., Abdul Raheem, R., Riyaz, A., Nishan, F., Shakeeb, S., Ali, S., Naila, A., Rasheed, M. F., Ahmed, N., Musthafa, H. S., Abdul Sattar, A., Najeeb, F., & Shareef, M. (2022). Higher education challenges under COVID-19 pandemic in the Maldives. In F. Netswera, A. A. Woldegiyorgis, & T. Karabchuk (Eds.), Higher education and the COVID-19 pandemic: Cross-national perspectives on the challenges and management of higher education in crisis times (pp. 62–80). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004520554_005
Naseem, N. A., Shanoora, A., Shakir, Z., Qazi, B. Z., Naila, A., Musthafa, H. S., Mohamed, N., Adam, A. S., & Abdul Raheem, R. (2022). Disengagement of Maldivian youth: A public perception study. The Maldives National University. Report
Riyaz, A., Moosa, S., Abdul Raheem, R., & Musthafa, H. S. (2022). Values in crisis: Values under the imprint of COVID-19 pandemic in the Maldives: Wave 2 summary report. United Nations Development Programme. Report
Musthafa, H. S. (2021). Using the dynamic model of educational effectiveness to detect effective teaching characteristics in the Maldives. The Maldives National Journal of Research, 9(2), 7–24. https://doi.org/10.62338/7zyqsd81
Moosa, S., Riyaz, A., Abdul Raheem, R., Musthafa, H. S., & Naeem, A. Z. (2021). Social value orientations and public confidence in institutions: A young democracy under the imprint of COVID-19. Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 13(2), 28–43. https://doi.org/10.5130/ccs.v13.i2.7548
Saleem, A., & Musthafa, H. S. (2021). The role of length of parental leave in strengthening mother-child bond and the husband-wife relationship in the Maldives. The Maldives National Journal of Research, 9(1), 77–89. https://doi.org/10.62338/yx4xxf11
Riyaz, A., Moosa, S., Abdul Raheem, R., & Musthafa, H. S. (2021). Values in crisis: Values under the imprint of COVID-19 pandemic in the Maldives: Wave 1 summary report. United Nations Development Programme in the Maldives; The Maldives National University. UNDP publication
Adam, A. S., Ismail, A. S., Abdul Raheem, R., Riyaz, A., Waheed, F., Adam, A. S., Waheeda, F., Naila, A., Abdul Rashid, M., Musthafa, H. S., Abdul Muhaimin, N., Naseem, N. A., Shakir, Z., Hassan, R., Vasila, M., Shahla, A., & Fahmy, I. (2021). Inquiry on elimination of all forms of discrimination against women in the Maldives. The Maldives National University. Report
Adam, A. S., Ismail, A. S., Haleem, H., Abdul Raheem, R., Riyaz, A., Nishan, F., Shakeeb, S., Ali, S., Naila, A., Rasheed, M. F., Ahmed, N., Musthafa, H. S., Abdul Sattar, A., & Najeeb, F. (2020). The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the higher education sector of the Maldives: Responses and challenges. The Maldives National University. Report
Musthafa, H. S., Riyaz, A., Moosa, S., Abdul Raheem, R., & Naeem, A. Z. (2020). Determinants of socioeconomic experiences during COVID-19 pandemic in the Maldives. The Maldives National Journal of Research, 8(2), 76–88. https://doi.org/10.62338/r0bj0n88
Riyaz, A., Musthafa, H. S., Abdul Raheem, R., & Moosa, S. (2020). Survey sampling in the time of social distancing: Experiences from a quantitative research in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. The Maldives National Journal of Research, 8(1), 169–192. https://doi.org/10.62338/0rp1ha97