Kalwant is Professor of Education and Social Justice, Professorial Research Fellow and Deputy Director of the Centre for Research in Race and Education in the School of Education.

Kalwant’s research focuses on the achievements and experiences of minority ethnic groups in education. She has conducted research on exploring discourses of identity and intersectionality examining the lives of Black minority ethnic groups as well as examining the marginal position of Gypsies and Travellers. Her research specifically explores how processes of racism, exclusion and marginalisation operate in predominantly White spaces with a focus on social justice and inclusion. More recently she has conducted research focussing on the position of minority ethnic academics in higher education. Her research on this area has been used to inform policy making in higher education, particularly the development of the Race Equality Charter mark. She has published 9 books, 10 edited collections and various journal articles.

Kalwant was recently conferred a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences. She is Visiting Professor at Harvard University in the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Visiting Professor at Kings College London (Department of Education and Professional Studies). She has been Visiting Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Queens University, Belfast and Visiting Scholar at the UCL Institute of Education.