Aylin Koçak

I earned my Master in I-O Psychology at UGhent in 2018. In 2022 I received my PhD in I-O Psychology at UGhent entitled: ‘Mind the ad : why qualified job seekers may (not) apply’ and I am currently working as a senior researcher on the FedDiverse project at VUB and UGhent. My research focuses on stigmatizing information in recruitment and selection procedures and provides insight for scholars, HR-practitioners and policy-makers on a local and federal governmental level. While my PhD research focused on age and gender stereotypes in job advertisements, I am currently investigating ethnic diversity in selection and promotion procedures in the FedDiverse project. Stigmatizing information during recruitment, selection and promotion procedures can lead to a self-select out of diverse candidates, which is highly problematic given today’s tight labor market. Therefore, I am impassioned by the diversity topic and how my research can help organizations optimize diversity HR-strategies. I highly value valorization of my research findings in both a scientific and practical manner. I like communicating and discussing research topics during academic (inter)national conferences on the one hand and, on the other hand, I really enjoy communicating my research in a more practical, hands-on way and translating research findings into policy. For instance, my PhD research involved projects within the Flemish government and I am currently working for the federal government in the FedDiverse project. In my free time I enjoy going out, attending music concerts, teaching dance classes and waking the beautiful streets of Ghent.

Research projects:

FedDiverse

Research keywords:

gender diversity, age diversity, ethnic diversity, recruitment, selection, promotion, job advertisements