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I am a PhD researcher at Youth Studies and the European Research Centre on Migration and Ethnic Relations (ERCOMER), Utrecht University. My research examines how young people in the Netherlands develop autonomy within the context of their family relationships, and how their cultural background shapes this process.

Growing up in a culturally diverse society, young people often navigate between different expectations — from their families, their peers, and the broader society. My work explores how parents and their children experience and negotiate tensions around autonomy across domains like lifestyle choices, relationships, values, and finances. Rather than framing cultural differences as deficits, I aim to understand the adaptive ways families navigate these dynamics.

Methodologically, I combine large-scale quantitative approaches — including person-centered analyses and advanced moderation techniques — with in-depth qualitative interviews with parent-youth dyads. This mixed-methods approach allows me to capture both broad patterns and the lived experiences behind them.

My dissertation is supervised by Prof. dr. Gonneke Stevens, Prof. dr. Susan Branje, and Prof. dr. Catrin Finkenauer.