I'm a Associate Professor in the Gender Studies program at Bar-Ilan University, specializing in several research fields including gender aspects of welfare policies, the social security system, old-age pensions, families undergoing change, motherhood, and adolescent employment. Over the past decade, my scientific work has primarily focused on inequality within four main areas: welfare-to-work programs and mothers’ employment, family changes and divorce, old-age employment pension and adolescent employment. My recent publications on these topics have appeared in leading journals.

I believe macro and micro domains should be integrated when addressing inequality. In other words, researching the various mechanisms of welfare policy on their own fails to provide a comprehensive picture of how certain social groups are excluded from resource allocation and rights realization. Rather, macro-level research of welfare policy needs to be combined with micro-level study of family and demographic change and labor market processes. 

The first research domain I have been investigating is welfare-to-work programs, which seek to deepen the integration of mothers from socio-economic and ethnic vulnerable groups into the paid labor market. The main target groups of this program are mothers from the following ethnic categories: immigrants from the former Soviet Union (mainly, from the Caucasus, Uzbekistan and Bukhara), immigrants from Ethiopia, Israeli-Palestinians and Mizrachi women (veteran Israeli Jews who are first- or second-generation immigrants from Asia and North Africa). My methodology was qualitative, including about 125 in-depth structured interviews with a sample of the mothers participating in the program and their trainers. For this research project, I won a number of research grants. 

My second research project deals with inequality and divorce, examining the relation between various aspects of family life and inequality. This study addresses the evolving challenges to traditional family structures, particularly in economically developed countries. These challenges encompass increased female labor force participation, including mothers with young children, expanded female academic attainment, rising divorce rates, and shifting family structures. This project was based on a quantitative methodology that included analysis of panel data. 

My third research project delves into investigating the level of employment pension rights and perceptions concerning economic status among elder mothers, examining both their present circumstances and their future prospects. Furthermore, I am actively engaged in collaboration with a colleague, Prof. Dr. Patricia Frericks from Kassel University, Germany. In 2025, we were awarded a grant from the DFG. 

The fourth project explores adolescent employment and its intricate connections to inequality, parental family status, and the socio-economic status of households. My colleague and I were awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation (ISF).

My scientific work advances research in the intersection of economics and society, with a focus on its implications for family life. My specializations in welfare policy, social security, family changes and gender contribute to the expansion of theoretical and empirical discussions in these fields. My involvement in international comparative studies aims at filling lacunas in these research fields, both in Israel and worldwide.

I am committed not only to fundamental scientific research, but also to teaching, guiding and mentoring students, which I consider to be valuable pursuits in their own right. At present, I am supervising five master’s students and ten doctoral students. I am about to take on a new postdoctoral fellow in the upcoming academic year who will work with me on the DFG project. 

Teaching affords me the opportunity not only to provide tools for critical and analytical thinking to students, but also to help sharpen their critical perspective on the social world. In the 2017 academic year, I received recognition from Bar-Ilan University as outstanding lecturer. Currently, I am teaching the following courses in the Gender Studies program for both PhD and master's degrees: Annual seminar - Studies in Family Dynamics, mandatory courses for master's students covering Gender and the Welfare State, and Policy Paper Writing. Elective courses include Motherhood and Feminism, as well as Gender Perspectives on caregiving throughout the life course. In the upcoming year, I plan to expand my teaching portfolio by introducing courses on Gender and Aging, and Adolescence and Young Adulthood. 

I am committed to effecting social change. Over the past decade, I have served as a board member of ESPAnet Israel, a branch of the European Network for Social Policy Analysis. Furthermore, since 2022, I have held the position of chairwoman of ESPAnet Israel, allowing me to contribute significantly to advancing social policy analysis and fostering positive societal transformations.