Carmen Friedrich

______________________________________________________________________

Office: Feldkirchenstraße 21, Room: F21/01.14d, 96052 Bamberg

______________________________________________________________________

E-Mail: carmen.friedrich(at)uni-bamberg.de
Phone: +49 (0)951 863-2642

______________________________________________________________________

Pillar 3: Changes in Human Capital, Labour Markets and Demographic Structures and their Impact on Social Structures in Modern Societies

Field: Sociology and Demography

Research Interests: Fertility, Family Research, Social Demography, Women's Empowerment
______________________________________________________________________

Visit Carmen's Website at the University here

// DISSERTATION PROJECT

Women's Agency and Fertility in the Middle East and North Africa

The demographic developments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have gained attention due to high fertility rates in the 1980s that did not match the region’s socioeconomic development. After a clear trend towards lower fertility rates, there was an unusual fertility increase in several MENA countries in recent years. If this increase continues, it could have significant consequences for these countries. Some scholars consider women’s empowerment as a strategy to lower fertility. In the patriarchal context of the MENA region, childlessness is very rare and motherhood is important for women’s social status. In my dissertation project, I investigate the relationship between women’s agency and fertility in the Middle East and North Africa. It focuses on both causal directions. Based on life course perspective, which considers women’s agency and fertility as sequentially linked, I pose two research questions: (1) Does women’s agency affect their fertility desires and number of children? (2) Does fertility (parenthood and subsequent births) affect women’s agency? To answer these questions I will use data from the Labor Market Panel Surveys (LMPS) and Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) for Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, and Yemen.

........................................................................................................................................................

// ACADEMIC BACKGROUND

2016-2019
Master's Degree (M.A.) in Sociology at the University of Bamberg

2012-2016
Bachelor's Degree (B.A.) in Sociology and Education at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg

........................................................................................................................................................

// RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS

Friedrich, C., Engelhardt, H., and Schulz, F. (2021). "Women's Agency in Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia: The Role of Parenthood and Education". Population Research and Policy Review 40, 1025-1059.

Hudde, A. and Friedrich, C. (2019). “Having Power, Having Babies? Fertility Patterns among German Elite Politicians”. Zeitschrift für Familienforschung/Journal of Family Research, 31(1), 27-39.

........................................................................................................................................................

// CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS

2019

Nordic Demographic Symposium. Poster: „Women’s agency and parenthood in Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia”. Reykjavík/Iceland. June 2019.

Fall conference of the section of family sociology of the German Sociological Association (DGS). Presentation: “Women’s agency, education, and parenthood in Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia”. Bamberg/Germany. October 2019.

Seminar Analytical Sociology. Presentation: “The association between parenthood and women’s agency in Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia”. Venice/Italy. November 2019.

2021

Research Seminar State Institute for Family Research (ifb). Invited talk: “Parenthood and women’s agency in the Middle East and North Africa”. Bamberg/Germany. November 2021.

........................................................................................................................................................

// EXPERIENCE

Academic Experience:

Current Positions

Researcher at the Chair for Demography at the University of Bamberg

Researcher at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities in the Working Group "Future Values"

09/2018-03/2019

Student Assistant at the Chair for Demography at the University of Bamberg

01/2018-08/2018

Student Assistant at the State Institute for Family Research at the University of Bamberg

03/2017-02/2018

Student Assistant for the project ProPricare at the Institute for General Medicine in Erlangen

06/2017-11/2017

Student Assistant at the Chair for Demography at the University of Bamberg

04/2014-07/2014

Supervision of the tutorial accompanying the lecture "Theories and Research Methods" at the Institute for Education at the University Erlangen-Nuremberg

Internships:

10/2017-10/2018

Scientific internship "Population and Family" for the project "Women's agency and transition to parenthood in Egypt" at the University of Bamberg

06/2015-07/2015

Internship at the research centre of the federal office for migration and refugees

Teaching Experience:

SS 2019

B.A. Seminar: Family in the Middle East and North Africa

WS 2019/2020

B.A. Seminar: Fertility in the Middle East and North Africa

SS 2020

B.A. Seminar: Fertility

WS 2020/2021

B.A. Seminar: Fertility

SS 2021

B.A. Seminar: Family and Fertility in the Middle East and North Africa

WS 2021/2022

B.A. Seminar: Family and Fertility in the Middle East and North Africa

SS 2022

B.A. Seminar: Childlessness (scheduled)

........................................................................................................................................................