Prior to working in academia, Saba worked as a Social Development consultant working for organizations like DFID, Save the Children, World Bank on issues of gender equality, education and social protection, particular among migrant population, urban poor and minorities.
Between 2012-17, she completed her PhD in Sociology from University of Warwick. Saba's doctoral work based on empirical research in India offered a post-colonial feminist analysis of subjectivities available to school-going Muslim girls. This research puts forth a ‘new’ conception of ‘good girlhood’ that combines traditional gender roles with discourses of modernity, choice and aspirations. A monograph based on this research titled Contemporary Muslim Girlhoods in India: A Study of Social Justice, Identity and Agency in Assam has recently been published by Routledge. During this period Saba held several part-time teaching and research roles, at University of Warwick, Bath Spa University and University Collage London.
In 2017 Saba was funded by the Leverhulme Trust to undertake a three-year research project interrogating teachers’ understandings and experiences if the counter-terrorism/Prevent agenda in British Schools. During this time, she also developed and lead PG and UG modules on Sociology of Education, Race in Contemporary Britain, and South Asia in Britain (IATL).
Between 2019-21, Saba was working as a Lecturer in Education at Coventry University leading modules on race, global inequalities, and youth. She was also a part of the research Center on Global Learning and Education. Her focus there was on decolonisation of education, gender, diversity and inclusion. During this time Saba was funded by Coventry City of Culture to undertake research on South Asian Women’s experiences of maternal healthcare using art-based method.
Saba joined University of Birmingham as a lecturer/Assistant Professor in Oct 2021.