Zehra Colak

Dr. Zehra Colak is a Researcher at Utrecht University's Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, affiliated with the Department of Education and Pedagogy. She holds a PhD from KU Leuven and specializes in critical race studies, education policy, and social equity. Her work focuses on belonging among minoritized youth and racialization in education. Currently, she leads a Dutch Research Council (NWO)-funded project on diversity representations in Europe. She teaches cultural diversity in education and supervises graduate students. Dr. Colak actively contributes to academic networks like the Standing Committee on Education and Social Inequality and serves on Ethnic and Racial Studies' editorial board. She co-developed the podcast 'Joy in Academia', funded by Migration and Societal Change, fostering racialized scholars' well-being.

• Education: PhD from KU Leuven (Belgium)
• Teaching: Courses on cultural diversity and pedagogy

Her research integrates qualitative methods to address systemic exclusion and racialization in educational institutions. Key themes include counter-spaces for marginalized students and intersectional discrimination. She has published widely on ethnic minority experiences in higher education and culturally diverse schools, with a focus on Belgium, China, and the Netherlands.

Her work bridges theory and practice, advocating for justice-oriented pedagogy and challenging deficit narratives in education systems.