Strengthening collective identity and psychosocial adaptation: A career intervention with MENA migrant women in Türkiye

Migration constitutes a profound intercultural transition in which individuals renegotiate identity, belonging, and perceptions of group value within new social contexts. For migrant women, these processes are further shaped by gendered inequalities and constrained access to opportunity. Drawing on social identity and empowerment perspectives, this mixed-methods longitudinal study examined whether a short-term, skill-based psychosocial career intervention could reshape group-based beliefs associated with a shared migrant identity among university-educated MENA migrant women living in Türkiye. Across two cohorts ( N = 21), participants completed the Individual–Group Belief Inventory at pre-test, post-test, and three-month follow-up, complemented by a reflection-based focus group. Quantitative findings revealed a selective pattern of change: beliefs related to vulnerability, injustice, distrust, and helplessness remained largely stable, whereas superiority beliefs—conceptualized as perceptions of collective capability, value, and contribution—increased significantly following the intervention and remained elevated at follow-up. Qualitative analyses indicated that these changes were grounded in personal empowerment, collective solidarity, and gendered expressions of group pride, rather than in intergroup hostility or dominance. Together, the findings demonstrate that empowerment-oriented psychosocial interventions can selectively strengthen internal components of collective identity that function as resources for intercultural adaptation and agency, even when broader structural constraints remain unchanged. Implications for intercultural relations research and applied intervention design are discussed.