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Elif is an interdisciplinary scholar who brings together management, anthropology, and political science to understand the working lives of refugees. Her research focuses on the lives, agency, and life-making practices of refugees and migrants, particularly within contexts shaped by war, forced migration, and precarity in the Global South.
She holds a Ph.D. in Management from the University of Bath, an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Toronto, and a B.A. in Political Science and International Relations from Marmara University, where she graduated magna cum laude. Before entering academia, she worked as an international relations specialist with NGOs in countries including Turkey and Afghanistan.
About
Elif is an ethnographer who explores the lived worlds of refugee women. Through ethnographic research with Syrian refugee women in Turkey, she explores how they survive in precarious conditions following war, trauma, and displacement, and how they rebuild their sense of self by exercising innovative forms of agentic practices. She explores the feelings, senses, voices, silences, values, and ways of reasoning of these women to understand how they re-establish their selves in post-war circumstances.
Elif argues that foregrounding the experiences of refugee women is crucial not only for understanding how war and forced migration reshape millions of lives, but also for revealing how people strive to live with honour and dignity even in seemingly impossible circumstances. Elif contributes to academia and policy by highlighting forms of life that are often overlooked, yet equally important and meaningful as those lived in elsewhere.
Experience
Experience
Researcher
Elif has contributed to the development of the emerging field of refugee studies within organization and management studies. Elif was a speaker at the Feminist Philosophy event organized by the School of Management at the University of Bath. She presents her work annually at conferences such as EGOS.
Elif has contributed to the development of the emerging field of refugee studies within organization and management studies. Elif was a speaker at the Feminist Philosophy event organized by the School of Management at the University of Bath. She presents her work annually at conferences such as EGOS.
Educator
Elif has extensively taught undergraduate, master’s, and PhD students. She has delivered modules such as Qualitative Research (PhD), Leading and Managing Change (MSc and UG), Research Methods (UG), and People and Organizations (UG). She has taught approximately 700 undergraduate students, 72 MSc students, and 70 PhD students. Her teaching is consistently well-received; for example, in Fall 2023/24, she earned a teaching evaluation score of 3.63 out of 4 from MSc students.
Elif has extensively taught undergraduate, master’s, and PhD students. She has delivered modules such as Qualitative Research (PhD), Leading and Managing Change (MSc and UG), Research Methods (UG), and People and Organizations (UG). She has taught approximately 700 undergraduate students, 72 MSc students, and 70 PhD students. Her teaching is consistently well-received; for example, in Fall 2023/24, she earned a teaching evaluation score of 3.63 out of 4 from MSc students.
Mentor
Elif was invited to tutor and mentor first-year PhD students, supporting them in selecting appropriate research methodologies and preparing ethics applications.
Elif was invited to tutor and mentor first-year PhD students, supporting them in selecting appropriate research methodologies and preparing ethics applications.
Speaker
Elif was invited as a speaker at the Feminist Philosophy event organized by the School of Management at the University of Bath. She presents her work annually at conferences such as EGOS.
Elif was invited as a speaker at the Feminist Philosophy event organized by the School of Management at the University of Bath. She presents her work annually at conferences such as EGOS.
Award Recipient
Elif's first paper received the Most Thought-Provoking PhD Paper Award at the Qualitative Research in Management and Organization Conference in Albuquerque, USA, in 2023.
Elif's first paper received the Most Thought-Provoking PhD Paper Award at the Qualitative Research in Management and Organization Conference in Albuquerque, USA, in 2023.
Fieldworker
Elif has been conducting fieldwork with Syrian, Turkish, and Arab women, as well as NGO activists and workers in Turkey, since 2020.
Elif has been conducting fieldwork with Syrian, Turkish, and Arab women, as well as NGO activists and workers in Turkey, since 2020.
NGO Professional
Before entering academia, she worked as an international relations specialist with NGOs in countries including Turkey and Afghanistan.
Before entering academia, she worked as an international relations specialist with NGOs in countries including Turkey and Afghanistan.
Impact
Impact
Elif is developing a broader research agenda, with plans to apply for UKRI, ESRC, EU, UN Women and UNHCR funding to support an extended ethnographic study on refugee working lives across post-war Syria and Europe. Having recently conducted pilot fieldwork for this project in February 2025, she is passionate about expanding this research across Europe and Syria, tracing how refugee women rebuild their honourable lives.
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