Shkalim completed her MA at Washington University in the United States, and then proceeded to study for her PhD at Tel Aviv University, in the department of Jewish history.[5] Her area of research is the traditions of various Jewish communities, and of the Persian Jewish community in particular.[6] She was the founding manager of The Center for Jewish Heritage at the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv, and worked as a regional and national guide on Jewish art for the Ministry of Education, and also wrote and edited learning materials about holiday traditions of different communities in Israel.[7] In her research, Shkalim traces not only the religious and cultural roots and expressions of Jewish traditions, but also how these traditions have been affected by the non-Jewish surroundings in which they were shaped.