She earned her M.A. in Economics from Middle East Technical University in Turkey and she received her Ph.D. in Economics from University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her research focuses on gender and development, macroeconomics and labor economics. She has publications in journals such as World Development, Social Science History and Review of Radical Political Economy. Her most recent research projects focus on the determinants of domestic violence in Turkey and the impact of pro-natalist population policies on fertility preferences in Turkey.