Shehata’s research focuses on corporate governance (CG) and financial reporting quality. She has published in leading academic journals, including Managerial Auditing Journal, International Review of Finance, Asian Review of Accounting, Applied Economics, Journal of Management and Governance, and Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society. Her work has been presented at prestigious international conferences organized by the American Accounting Association, European Accounting Association and the British Finance and Accounting Association. Notably, she presented reports on CG disclosure in Egypt and the Gulf countries at the 30^th Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Beyond her research, Shehata contributes actively to institutional and professional service. At AUC, she is a Center for Learning and Teaching (CLT) associate, a frequent invited speaker at CLT events, a member of the Council of the School of Business, and a participant in various school committees. She coordinates Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) activities within the Department and previously served as faculty advisor of the Corporate Governance Club, the first Egyptian student-based academic club promoting CG principles and best practices.

Shehata has also been deeply engaged in national and international governance initiatives. Selected by ACCA to assess corporate governance in Egypt, she contributed to an international ACCA/KPMG report (2017). She translated the Egyptian CG code from Arabic to English for the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) database and was a member of the Ministry of Public Business Sector’s 2016 committee to revise the CG code for state-owned enterprises. In 2017, she was invited by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to serve on an advisory board studying female inclusion on boards in Egypt. That same year, she presented her findings on transparency and disclosure at a high-level roundtable on “Investment Attractiveness and Transparency of the Egyptian Capital Market.” Earlier, she was interviewed for the international report Improving the Attractiveness of the Egyptian Capital Market in Support of the Investment Environment (2016), prepared for the Egyptian government by the Government and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

Shehata holds a PhD in management (Accounting concentration) and a postgraduate certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education from Aston University, UK, and MSc and BSc (highest honors) in Accounting from the Faculty of Commerce, English section, Cairo University, Egypt

Shehata received the School of Business 2018 Excellence in Research Award. She also received several prestigious international awards including:

• 2019 Study UK Alumni Awards, Professional Achievement Category, Finalist, British Council, UK
• 2018 Real Impact Awards, Individual Commitment Category, Highly Commended Entry, Emerald Publishing, UK
• 2018 Top 50 Undergraduate Business Professors, Poets & Quants, USA
• 2018 Trust Across America's 2018 Top Thought Leaders in Trust, Trust Across America-Trust Around the World (TAA-TAW), USA
• 2017 Paul R. Lawrence Fellowship, Case Research Foundation, USA
• 2016 Adrian Cadbury Memorial Award, International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN), London, UK
• 2015 Millstein Center Rising Star of Corporate Governance Award, Columbia University, New York City, USA
• 2014 Emerald/EFMD (European Foundation for Management Development) MENA (Middle East North Africa) Management Research Fund Award, UK