Treatment of Turkish Women in STEM

Women in Turkey were granted equal rights towards the beginning of the 20th century as a result of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who gained power in Turkey after the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1922. He granted women rights that other women in European countries had not obtained yet. With this, more women became involved in fields they were interested in, rather than doing the jobs they were forced to do because of hierarchical social norms. The introduction of women into the workplace, especially to STEM fields, has contradicted many of the teachings in Turkey and the Middle East’s predominant religion, Islam.

Even with social pressures such as men and religious beliefs in place, many women have still made great progress in the STEM field, with Turkey attracting more women into the STEM field than some of the countries in the European Union have. A statistic from 2017 revealed that, women in STEM made up approximately 44.86% of the people in the field, whereas women only made up around 40.54% of the STEM field in the EU. The gender gap in STEM fields across Turkey are closer to being closed now than they had been in the past 10 years, which shows a great deal of progress for the feminist movements in Turkey.

Gülsün Sağlamer, the first woman rector of Istanbul Technical University, discussed Turkey’s growing influence in STEM and how the increasing numbers in the women’s sector are allowing for the growth and spread of knowledge. While positive change is happening in the STEM field for women, she discussed how many still experience gender struggles outside of the workplace, as Turkey has had a growing femicide problem. Sağlamer states that, “despite its relatively good situation in the number of female scientists and engineers, Turkey should still work hard to increase this ratio further”.

As women’s influence in the workplace grows, femicide numbers also continue to grow, with 29 femicides occurring in just one month last year. The total number of femicides in Turkey amounted to 500 in 2019. While there is not just one reason for the femicide in Turkey, a majority of the reasons are rooted in the growing influence that women have in society and the overall growth of feminism around the world. Men who have committed these femicides have said things such as “she was being annoying” or “I was just mad” to explain their actions. Jealousy and the woman asking for a divorce has also been another reason for why these homicides were committed. As women’s rights grow to that of men’s, some men have reached to belittling women and “establishing dominance” over them to continue to keep the gender dichotomy intact. Thus, women in the workplace, especially in fields that are commonly associated with working men, have often been treated as they are less qualified for the position, regardless of true experience.

Many women have also fallen into resisting work that puts them at an equal level to men due to the constant feeding of the gender dichotomy. A study done at Bridgewater University by a Turkish woman named Semra Guney reveals that both women and men alike show a negative attitude towards women in higher ranking positions than men. For centuries, the men in Turkey have been “superior” to women, discouraging women from taking up work in high paying/well respected positions in modern day as it contradicts their traditional lives.

Turkey’s education system has also discouraged women from pursuing careers in the STEM field. A study in Turkey showed that men were often more exposed to STEM fields during middle school in comparison to women, which is a defining stage in children who are choosing their career paths. Since men were more exposed to STEM education, they were more likely to pursue these careers, whereas women showed little interest in the field during high school because they were not given an equal introduction of the education. While many women have pushed past the education system’s barriers, if the field was made more accessible throughout their educational years, there would be far more women in STEM.

While many women have chosen to defy the gender norms in Turkey, many women find themselves leaving the country in order to work in high-paying jobs in other countries and some choose to not work at all. This could have possibly stunted the growth of the STEM field in Turkey even further. Several women’s rights protests and anti-femicide protests have taken place throughout Turkey, especially in the larger cities like Istanbul and Ankara, in order to encourage more women to speak up and take high paying jobs. Often, these women who are marching for their rights, are met with tear gas and rubber bullets for solely protesting the femicides in Turkey.

While many women have experienced bettering conditions in the workplace, Turkish society as a whole has a lot of room for growth. If Gülsün Sağlamer wants to see the STEM field become more populated by women, this education has to become more accessible to women who are interested in it. Instead of having to leave the country or pursue other careers, women should feel proud to be a scientist, an engineer, or a doctor in Turkey, rather than be addressed as less valuable in comparison to her male coworkers.

The equality between men and women in the workplace is an issue that has been voiced since the introduction of second-wave feminism in the 1900s and while many changes have been made in economic equality, social issues are still prevalent. Women from around the world experience negative responses regarding the careers they choose to pursue and this has stunted the development of sciences and technology as stereotypes and prejudice towards women in the workplace discourages them from working in the STEM field.

Sources:

“‘Women's Rights and Feminism in Turkey Since 1980.’” Middle East Studies Center, 4 Apr. 2013, mesc.osu.edu/events/women’s-rights-and-feminism-turkey-1980.

“Turkey Outperforms EU in Women's Participation in Science - Turkey News.” Hürriyet Daily News, www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-outperforms-eu-in-womens-participation-in-science-141180.

Güney, Semra; Gohar, Raheel; Akıncı, Sevcan Kılıç; and Akıncı, Mehmet Mutlu (2006). Attitudes toward Women Managers in Turkey and Pakistan. Journal of International Women's Studies, 8(1), 194-211.

Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol8/iss1/15

“The State of Gender Equality in Turkey.” Girl Up, 7 Aug. 2020, girlup.org/voices/the-state-of-gender-equality-in-turkey.