Prof. Fatma Umut BEŞPINAR

Fatma Umut Beşpınar is a professor of Sociology at Middle East Technical University (METU), in Ankara, Turkey. In 1998, she attained her bachelor’s degree in Sociology, and later, in 2001, she completed her master’s studies at METU. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in 2007, with research support from the Mellon Foundation, specializing in the field of Sociology. Beşpınar is currently the head of the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies at METU, and she is one of the founding members and a commission member of the Office for Promoting Gender Equality and Preventing Sexual Harassment (CITOB), established at METU in 2016. Her academic interests include gender studies, sociology of work and labor, family studies, sociology of disaster, and social policy. Her studies have been published in various books, including “Women in the Middle East and North Africa: Agents of Change,” “Routledge Handbook of Modern Turkey,” “Migration, Family and Social Position: Contributions to Education, Gender and Care Dynamics,” “Turkey and the Politics of National Identity: Social, Economic and Cultural Transformation,” and “Gender and Sexuality in Muslim Cultures.” Also, her research has appeared in diverse journals such as “Women Studies International Forum,” “New Technology, Work and Employment,” “Community Work and Family,” and “Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies.” She has contributed research reports on topics related to work life, gender, and family for international organizations such as UNICEF, ILO, and IOM. She has been involved as both a researcher and project coordinator in numerous international and national projects within her area of expertise. Most recently, Beşpınar assumed the role of principal project coordinator for the project titled “Assessment of the Impact of the Projects and Implementations for the Prevention and Alleviation of Domestic Violence Against Women in Turkey through Using a GAP Analysis Methodology” (119K392), conducted under the TÜBİTAK 1001 Project from 2020 to 2023.

Dr. Zeynep BEŞPINAR     

Zeynep Beşpınar received her master’s degree from Middle East Technical University (METU), Department of Psychology in 2004, following her bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering. In 2012, she completed her Ph.D. studies at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Department of Sociology. She has a book based on this study, which critically evaluates women’s projects in the Southeastern Anatolia Region. Since 2006, she has been working as a lecturer at Marmara University, Department of Sociology. She has conducted research in the fields of Sociology of Gender and the Sociology of Family. She has publications on fatherhood, masculinity, intimate partner violence, disaster management, and gender equality issues.