Dr. Paula Ray

Senior Lecturer and Research Manager, Aspire2 International

Paula Ray completed her PhD at the University of Auckland in 2014, on Digital Activism among urban Indian women Facebook users. She got her last master’s degree on International Communication from the University of Leeds, UK; her first master’s was on Political Science from the University of Calcutta, India. Before returning to academics, she was a senior journalist in India and the UK, a passion she currently pursues from NZ via www.migrantviews.co.nz – a news portal of, by and for all Migrants who have called this land their home, no matter how briefly.

A published author of several academic and journalistic articles, Paula has also published an ebook titled, Ethni-cities: At the Crossroads of Culture. As a career journalist, she was instrumental in the launch of two leading dailies in Mumbai (https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/) and Pune (http://punemirror.indiatimes.com/), in the latter as the features editor. Later, she became the London correspondent for several media publications in India, including CNN-IBN, Femina (a BBC Worldwide and The Times Group venture) and Deccan Herald, alongside performing as the production manager for a credit industry B2B publication, called Credit Today. In NZ, she worked as Associate Editor of Indian Weekender, a weekly for the Kiwi-Indian community, even as she continues to write for BBC and Forbes magazine on NZ-related news and features.

After gathering considerable teaching and research experience at University of Auckland, across the School of Social Sciences, Business School and Engineering School, Paula is currently a Senior Lecturer and Research Manager at Aspire2 International, Auckland. She is also a course coordinator for Massey University, in the School of Communication, Journalism and Marketing.

Paula has moved from Calcutta to Leeds, Mumbai to London, Pune to Auckland, within a span of seven years, and has called each city her home. Today, she considers herself a ‘zingare’ – Italian for a ‘gypsy woman’ – with a global palate for creativity.