An article co-authored by our undergraduate alumna Beyza Barutçu and Assist. Prof. İbrahim Emre Yanık from our Department of Sociology has been published in Community, Work & Family, a Q1-ranked international journal on 28 May 2026. The study is derived from Beyza Barutçu's undergraduate thesis and marks a remarkable achievement for a graduate of our programme.
The article titled “Between Two Worlds: Work–Family Balance and Bicultural Identity Among Second-Generation Devout Turkish Women in Germany”, examines how second-generation devout Muslim Turkish women living in Germany navigate the balance between their professional and family lives. The study explores how participants reinterpret, blend, and at times reject the norms associated with German individualism and Turkish collectivism.
The research drew on two months of ethnographic observation at a workplace with a high concentration of Turkish-origin women in Germany, alongside ten in-depth interviews. Three key findings emerged: the intergenerational and transnational scope of family generates forms of family interference with work that conventional models fail to capture; religious devotion shapes which jobs participants find morally sustainable; and flexible arrangements such as part-time and dual part-time work are best understood as constrained accommodations rather than free choices.
The study makes significant contributions to the literature on work–family conflict within the context of cultural identity and offers insights for developing more nuanced approaches to workplace and social policy.
