Born in Istanbul in 1983, Albayrak completed her secondary education at Kadıköy Imam Hatip High School in 2000 and her undergraduate studies in sociology and history at Indiana University, Bloomington in 2003. 

She received her doctorate in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2013. Her primary academic interests include different models of religion-state relations, dependencies, and decolonization in education. 

Albayrak, who has actively participated in numerous socially impactful projects in numerous national and international civil society organizations, is married and a mother of four.