Devran Gulel Portrait
Media ready expert

Biography

Dr Devran Gulel completed her PhD in law at the University of Portsmouth, where she was fully funded (2017-2021). She holds an MA in European Studies from the University of Hamburg (DE) and previously worked at Lund University (SE) as the Jean Monnet Fellow of Turkey (2015-2017), where she conducted research on the Nordic Welfare Model and gender equality policies.

Along with her active involvement in EDI initiatives at the University of Portsmouth, Dr Gulel is the convener of the UoP Research Staff Forum. She also serves on several committees, including the Executive Committee of the Centre for the Advancement of Equality, Gender, and Inclusion Studies (AEGIS), the Faculty of Business and Law Ethics Committee, and the UK HR Excellence in Research Panel, which reviews applications from UK HE institutions for the European Commission's Excellence Award that acknowledges alignment with the principles of the European Charter for Researchers. 

Research interests

Dr Gulel is actively involved in interdisciplinary research that spans various fields, including law, politics, society, and organisational studies. Her interests encompass feminism and gender politics within a global context, welfare states and policies, women’s labour market participation and workplace representation, human rights in authoritarian regimes, and misogyny in political discourse, the judiciary, and law enforcement. 

Between April 2023 and present, she has been working in a multi-partner EU HORIZON Project "Realising Girls’ and Women’s Inclusion, Representation and Empowerment (RE-WIRING)", which has already produced a number of reports, working papers, toolkits, and academic publications. 

Teaching responsibilities

Dr Gulel is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). With a wealth of international teaching experience, she has taught a wide range of modules across Schools of Law, Politics & Sociology, and Business: European Union integration and law; comparative politics; identity politics; democracy and authoritarianism; global feminism; law and gender; EDI in business; and qualitative research methods. 

Dr Gulel is open to invitations for guest lectures and research collaborations.

Media availability

Dr Gulel is available for media engagement. 

Research outputs

2025

Re-wiring gender power hierarchies: Insights from sector, national, and European-level organisations

Gulel, D., Johnston, K., Alberti, F., Kapotas, P.

21 Jul 2025,

Research output: Abstract

Navigating visa inequities: mobility as privilege in academia: “You are not supposed to be here”

Gulel, D.

11 Jul 2025, In: Global Social Challenges, 10p.

Research output: Article

Navigating geopolitics in academia: struggles and triumphs of female scholars from the Global South

Gulel, D., Awungjia, A.

8 Jul 2025,

Research output: Chapter (peer-reviewed)

2023

National human rights institutions and the appropriation of human rights: the case of the human rights and equality institution of Turkey

Kayaoğlu , T., Gulel, D.

1 Dec 2023, In: Australian Journal of Human Rights. 29, 2, p. 354-374, 20p.

Research output: Article

2022

'I WANT TO BREAK FREE!': a study on women who seek freedom from religion and the Islamic veil in Turkey

Gulel, D.

11 Oct 2022, In: Interdisciplinary Journal for Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society. 8, 2, p. 487-528, 42p.

Research output: Article

2021

A critical assessment of Turkey’s positive obligations in combatting violence against women: looking behind the judgments

Gülel, D.

1 Sep 2021, In: Muslim World Journal of Human Rights. 18, 1, p. 27-53

Research output: Article

Feminist movement and law-making in Turkey: a critical appraisal from 1998 to 2018

Gülel, D.

1 Feb 2021, In: Women's History Review. 30, 1, p. 2-27, 26p.

Research output: Article

2020

Patterns of misogyny in Turkey's contemporary political discourse: an analysis of the Presidential speeches

Gulel, D.

10 May 2020, In: Nuovi Autoritarismi e Democrazie: Diritto, Istituzioni, Società. 2, 1, p. 36-57, 23p.

Research output: Article

View all my research outputs