Karen Phalet obtained her Masters degree in Psychology at the K.U. Leuven in 1986 (maxima cum laude). In 1993, she obtained her PhD in Psychology at the K. U. Leuven in 1993. Since 1992, she has worked at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Utrecht U., first as Assistant Professor and later as Associate Professor.

In the period 2005-2006, she accepted a special chair at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Radboud University Nijmegen.
Since Fall 2006 until now, she is Full Professor at the Psychology Department of the K.U. Leuven.
She is also affiliated to the Faculty of Social Sciences of Utrecht U and a senior research fellow of the European Research Centre On Migration and Ethnic Relations (Ercomer) at Utrecht U.