Gender and the city: migration of well-educated women from İstanbul to Berlin

Official URL: https://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b2578884_(Table of contents)

This thesis analyzes the migration of highly educated women from Istanbul to Berlin as a case of “urban migration” shaped largely by gender-related experiences and motivations. What are the city- related push and pull factors regarding the migration of highly educated middle-class women from Istanbul to Berlin? How does gender shape both their city experience and migration motivations? Based on a feminist critique of methodological nationalism, this study takes city as its main unit of analysis and explores the gendering of cities and of migration from the perspective of an under-researched group of migrants. Based on semi-structured, open-ended in-depth interviews conducted online with 20 women who moved from Istanbul to Berlin in the past 10 years, this research reveals the significance of gendered experiences of public space as a critical factor is shaping migration.