From 2014 to 2017, Shafik served as a deputy governor of the Bank of England and also previously as permanent secretary of the United Kingdom's Department for International Development from 2008 to 2011.

On 17 April 2024, Shafik testified before the United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce regarding antisemitism on the Columbia University campus.

When she was four, the Egyptian government nationalized (brought into public ownership) her father's property[13] and the family moved to Savannah, Georgia in the mid-1960s, then to Miami and Raleigh, North Carolina.

[15] She then graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, with a major in economics and politics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1983.

[16] After Oxford, Shafik joined the World Bank and held a variety of roles, starting in the research department where she worked on global economic modelling and forecasting and then later on environmental issues.

[24] After the Israel–Hamas conflict intensified in October 2023, and an altercation concerning an Israeli student lead to legal action, Shafik issued a statement saying that if "speech is unlawful or violates University rules, it will not be tolerated".

In November 2023, Shafik was invited to attend the 2023 United States Congress hearing on antisemitism, but declined, citing a scheduling conflict.

[31][32] She later gave testimony before the United States House Committee on Education & the Workforce on 17 April 2024, along with David Greenwald and Claire Shipman, co-chairs of the Trustees of Columbia University.

[33] Former presidential advisors and consultants Shailagh Murray, Dana Remus, and Philippe Reines, along with lawyers, political officials, and experts on antisemitism prepared Shafik for the hearing for months.

[34] The demonstrations outside Columbia’s campus sometimes included pro-Hamas antisemitic hate speech and threats,[2] resulting in protesters targeting some Jewish students.

[2] Her actions in ordering the arrests were criticised by the American Association of University Professors, PEN America, president Serene Jones of Union Theological Seminary, and the Columbia College Student Council.

[2] These included House Speaker Mike Johnson and at least a dozen members of Congress who claimed that the school failed to protect Jewish students.

[41] Columbia University's senate drafted and circulated a censure resolution against Shafik for abridging "the fundamental requirements of academic freedom" and causing an "unprecedented assault on student rights".

[63] She served on a number of boards including the Middle East Advisory Group to the International Monetary Fund,[64] and the Economic Research Forum for the Arab World, Iran and Turkey.

[65] She is also active on the board and as a mentor to the Minority Ethnic Talent Association which supports under-represented groups to advance to senior positions in the civil service.

[71] In 2021, she was appointed to the Pandemic Preparedness Partnership (PPP), an expert group chaired by Patrick Vallance to advise the G7 presidency held by the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

She argued that universities needed to 'teach people to have difficult conversations', adding: “It’s through that process of listening that you learn, you build consensus, and you move forward as a community.