Dr Chandrika Devarakonda is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Chester, UK. She teaches across a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and currently supervises doctoral candidates on both PhD and EdD programmes.

An experienced and active researcher, Chandrika has successfully led and contributed to a range of research projects and has supported numerous doctoral studies, including the supervision of a Commonwealth Scholar. Her scholarly contributions include authored and edited books, book chapters, and articles published in peer-reviewed journals. She is also an invited member of the Faculty Research Funding Group.

Chandrika serves as Co-Chair of the Research Development Community (RDC) on Social Justice, Equity and Diversity at the Association for Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE). In addition, she is a member of the Advisory Board of Reform Child Development Centre, based in Trivandrum, India.

Her expertise is recognised nationally and internationally, and she has been invited to deliver keynote addresses and presentations for a wide range of organisations, including Lifelong Learning UK, the Association of Colleges (AoC), Equaliteach, Belfast Childcare Partnership, Leicester Early Years, and numerous universities and professional bodies in the UK and abroad. Her invited engagements include presentations at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain), Millersville University (USA), HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht (Netherlands), Konstanz University (Germany), Amity University and Pondicherry University (India), as well as professional events organised by Pearson.

Chandrika is an active reviewer for a number of national and international journals and organisations, including Power and Education, Disability, CBR and Inclusive Development, Critical Studies in Education, European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, and the British Medical Journal. She has also reviewed proposals and reports for organisations such as the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and UNESCO, and has contributed to the scientific committees of European professional organisations.

Within the University of Chester, she co -leads the Faculty Research Interest Group (RIG). She also serves on the editorial boards of several peer-reviewed and high-impact journals and holds executive board positions within national and international professional organisations. Through these roles, she contributes significantly to advancing research, scholarship, professional practice, and international collaboration in the fields of inclusion, diversity, early childhood education, and social justice.