Mona Motakef

Prof. Dr. Mona Motakef is a Professor of Sociology of Gender Relations at TU Dortmund University since 2020. Previously, she served as Acting Professor at Humboldt University Berlin's Institute of Social Sciences. Her research focuses on gender studies, social inequality, and the precarization of work and family life. She has conducted extensive studies on precarious employment's impact on personal relationships, including a landmark book co-authored with Prof. Christine Wimbauer. Motakef has received notable awards like the 2020 Faculty Teaching Award and the Maria Weber Grant for postdoctoral research.

Her academic journey includes roles at the University of Duisburg-Essen, WZB Social Science Center Berlin, and King's College London. Key research projects include the DFG-funded 'Unequal Recognition?' study (2014–2017) and the current 'Ambivalent Recognition Order' project (2018–2021). Methodologically, she emphasizes interpretive approaches like discourse analysis and hermeneutics.

Awards highlight her contributions to sociological theory and practice, including the 2012 Dissertation Prize for her work on organ donation governance. Motakef advocates for structural reforms to address precarious labor conditions and gendered caregiving disparities, arguing for societal revaluation of care work beyond economic productivity.