Ozen Guven

Ozen Guven is a Senior Researcher at AIR. Dr. Guven has over a decade of experience in international development and humanitarian assistance, conducting research and evaluation at the intersections of migration and forced displacement, education in emergencies, child protection, social-emotional learning, teacher effectiveness, and bilingual learners. Her current responsibilities include designing and leading the qualitative component of several mixed-methods studies in the Middle East, West Africa, and South Asia. Specifically, she provides technical leadership and enumerator training, develops research design and instruments, leads data collection, analysis, and reporting.

Prior to joining AIR, Dr. Guven worked for various development and humanitarian agencies and research organizations, including USAID, DFID, Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services, Education Above All, Improve Group, and Education Northwest. Some of her previous projects include child development and psychosocial well-being in IDP camps (Syria), teacher effectiveness and social-emotional learning of internally displaced children and youth (Iraq), Syrian refugee teachers and their educational practices in camp and non-camp settings (Turkey), education of children formerly associated with armed forces (Global), and education and conflict mitigation (Global). Dr. Guven also has extensive experience working with disadvantaged communities in the U.S., which include research with Indigenous communities, students experiencing poverty and homelessness, newcomer refugees and immigrants.

Besides research and evaluation, Dr. Guven has experience in technical assistance and classroom teaching. She provided training to local and international staff on qualitative design, data analysis, and education in emergencies. Trained as an ESL teacher for her B.A., she has worked with a diverse group of learners, including refugee and migrant students in the U.S., ethnic minorities in Turkey, and refugee children on the Turkish-Syrian border. Dr. Guven earned her Ph.D. in International Development and Education from New York University and M.S. in International Relations from the Middle East Technical University in Turkey. She is a Leaders in Equitable Evaluation and Diversity scholar, specializing in culturally responsive and equitable evaluation.