Nidhi S. Sabharwal is currently Associate Professor at the Centre for Policy Research in Higher Education (CPRHE), National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), New Delhi, India. Dr Sabharwal has previously been the In-Charge of the CPRHE/NIEPA. She has also served as the Director at the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, New Delhi. Dr Sabharwal has studied inter-group inequalities across human development indicators, focusing on the role of caste- and gender-based discrimination in market and non-market institutions, and dimensions of academic freedom and academic corruption. She has also studied excluded groups in other countries, such as the Burakumin in Japan.

Nidhi’s current research area lies in the area of access and equity in higher education, with a focus on issue of college readiness, diversity, social inclusion and higher educational success of socially and economically disadvantaged students. Her most recent research projects include a multi-state study on student diversity and social inclusion in higher education institutions and an evaluation study of the coaching programmes for the students from the socially excluded groups in Universities and Colleges in India. She is now researching college readiness and student success in higher education in India. She is Co-Principal Investigator (India Lead) for the Fair Chance Foundation project 'Widening Access to Higher Education in India: Institutional Approaches' (Co-PI Emily Henderson DES, Co-I Ann Stewart, Law, 2022-2026). She has presented extensively in international and national conferences, as well as published widely on issues pertaining to her research area.