Personal Profile
Languages
Arabic - mother language
English
Hebrew
Amharic
Taught Courses
Undergraduate courses
Introduction to Sociology of Education
Social exclusion and inequality
Introduction to social research methods
Postgraduate courses
Education and Inequality
Gender inequality in education
Introduction to Qualitative Research
I have a PhD in sociology and social policy, and an MSc. in social research methods from the university of Durham/UK. I was awarded the Durham Doctoral Fellowship to conduct research on the structure of the education sector in East Jerusalem. My research offered a comprehensive comparison of the educational services provided to both Palestinian and Israeli students, and explored how unequal resourcing of school education can affect the life trajectories of students in tertiary education and the labour market. My thesis was later published into a book by Routledge in 2015. I was also granted a postdoctoral fellowship at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where I worked for two years on issues of intersectionality, education and the labour market. My research resulted in two publications; one with the Middle East Studies Journal, where I discussed the multiple layers of structural discrimination that Palestinian women face in finding employment in Occupied East Jerusalem. I have also published with the Identities/Global Studies in Culture and Power Journal on the social exclusion of the Domari women in Jerusalem.
​
I’m currently working as an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Educational Research at Addis Ababa University. My current research focuses on social justice issues in institutions of higher education. I am leading two research studies on the subject. The first research study looks into the experience of Palestinian students in Israeli institutions of higher education, looking at issues of institutional discrimination, cultural capital and the experiences of ethnic minorities. The second study explores intersectional issues Ethiopian female academics face at Addis Ababa University, their career trajectories, leadership, access to research grants, perceptions of self as an academic, and perceptions on the role of the institution in empowering them and the obstacles they face.
Later working as an adjunct lecturer at the Hebrew University and Al Quds University my courses covered a range of topics including: sociology, sociology of education, social exclusion and inequality, introduction to social research methods and qualitative research methods. I currently teach similar courses at Addis Ababa University as well as supervise PhD. students exploring these fields of research. I have recently completed a chapter in an edited handbook on Palestine- to be published by Routledge. My chapter looks into the education sector in Palestine through the theoretical lens of Amartya Sen’s “Capability Approach”. It explored the extent to which the education sector builds Palestinian children’s capabilities, in light of the political and economic context. I also have a book coming out with Palgrave Macmillan end of this year, exploring the social exclusion of youth in Arab cities through the combined theoretical lenses of Henri Lefebvre’s “Right to the City” and Amartya Sen’s “Capability Approach”. In the book I have explored school education, tertiary education and youth opportunities in the labour market in four cities; Cairo, Tunis, Amman and East Jerusalem.