• PhD, Educational Administration, Gaziantep University, 2015
• MA, Educational Administration, Fırat University, 2011
• BA, Foreign Language Education, Boğaziçi University, 2004

Dr. Mustafa Toprak has 20 years’ experience in education as a faculty member, researcher, and teacher. As the chair of the Department of Educational Leadership, he oversees the development of a new suite of programs to prepare and upskill educational leaders. Dr. Toprak has worked as an English teacher at the K-12 level and an English instructor at the university level for over a decade. Before joining SEA, Dr. Toprak held the position of Assistant Professor and Associate Professor at the American University in Cairo where he taught undergraduate and graduate courses and served as the regional editor for Bloomsbury’s Digital Series on Education and Childhood for Egypt.

Dr. Toprak has published over thirty journal articles that have appeared in prestigious academic journals, including the Journal of Educational Administration, International Journal of Leadership in Education, Teaching and Teacher Education, Irish Educational Studies, Education Policy Analysis Archives, and International Migration. His most recent scholarly work is a single-author book titled: “Problems and possibilities of neoliberal education reforms: Accountability, high-stakes testing, and inequality”, which has been accepted for publication by Bloomsbury Academic publisher. 

Recent Publications

• • Karakus, M., Toprak, M., & Chen, J. (2024). Demystifying the impact of educational leadership on teachers’ subjective well-being: A bibliometric analysis and literature review. Educational Management, Administration & Leadership (EMAL), https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432241242.
  • Karakus, M., Toprak, M., Caliskan, O., Crawford, M. (2024). Teachers’ affective and physical wellbeing: emotional intelligence, emotional labour and implications for leadership. International Journal of Educational Management (IJEM), https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-07-2023-0335.
  • Toprak, M., Karakus, M., Chen, J. (2023). Transformational school leadership: A systematic review of research in a centralized education system. Journal of Educational Administration (JEA), 61(5), 514-530.
  • Toprak, M., Tosten, R., & Alçiçek, Z. (2022). Teacher stress and work-family conflict: Examining a moderation model of psychological capital. Irish Educational Studies, https://doi.org/10.1080/03323315.2022.2135564.
  • Toprak, M., & Karakuş, M. (2020). Outcomes of school leaders’ emotions: A review of evidence in Asian context. In Junjun, C. & Ronnel, K. (Eds.), Emotions in education: Asian insights on emotions in learning, teaching, and leadership (pp.165-183). Routledge.