Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Women's Studies International Forum, cilt.114, 2026 (SSCI, Scopus)
Women refugees displaced by the Syrian conflict encounter profound challenges in accessing and retaining employment in their host countries. Their labour market participation remains markedly low, and when employed, they are often concentrated in low-paid, informal, and insecure sectors. This is particularly stark for university-educated Syrian women, whose qualifications are routinely disregarded, leading to employment in roles far below their skill levels. Addressing this widespread underemployment, conceptualized here as overqualification, is crucial within the context of highly educated Syrian women in Türkiye. This research employs a biographical narrative inquiry approach to explore the employment experiences of Syrian women with higher education in Türkiye. We conducted depth interviews with five participants, identified through purposive and snowball sampling based on their Syrian origin, gender, and university-level education. Situated within the broader socio-cultural and economic landscape of migration, this study illuminates how these women perceive the influence of their education on their professional trajectories. Our findings indicate that university education plays a vital role in fostering women's empowerment and autonomy. However, even those who secure employment aligned with their qualifications often face systemic disadvantages, including precarious job conditions and comparatively lower wages. These results underscore critical dimensions of overqualification and the gendered dynamics of labour market integration among skilled migrant populations.