She attended Rotberg High School in Ramat HaSharon and served in the Israeli Air Force, where she trained pilots on a flight simulator.

Ariav's teaching career began in 1971, as a teacher of mathematics in the Israeli schools, and afterwards in Germany and the United States.

After completing her doctorate, Ariav served as Director of Israeli Teaching Consortium in North America (managing curriculum development in teams from various U.S. and Canadian states) and acted as Director of Visual Resources Network in Jewish education under the Jewish Education Service of North America (JESNA).

[2] Ariav served as a guest lecturer in the Department of Teacher Education at the University of California, Irvine (UCI).

[4] In 2008, Ariav was appointed President of Beit Berl College,[5] a role she held until 2020, after serving the maximum term in office.

Under her presidency, the college expanded its academic portfolio and embarked on graduate tracks with thesis projects, and built innovative learning spaces.

[8] In March 2021, Ariav was appointed Academic Director of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation - Israel.