Women's education in Turkey: Education policies and gender equality

This research attempts to shed light on how the State sustains and perpetuates the gender-based disparities in education leading to inequitable social outcomes. Its purpose is to examine the role of Turkish education policies and practices in formal and non-formal education in contributing to educational outcomes that has been more favorable for males then females.; The investigation of the role of the state in shaping gendered outcomes in education is operationalized by three data-gathering processes. The first is the collection of policy documents related with education, the second is the collection of educational statistics that would shed light to the condition of girls'/women's education in Turkey, and the third involved interviews conducted with Ministry of Education officials, the key players in policy design and implementation.; The central finding of the study is that the state (Turkey) endorses and perpetuates gender differentiated educational outcomes via its policies and practices by promoting "neutrality", "formal equality" and the concept of a "meriocratic" society, which serve to increase the participation and representation of males. Gender is not considered as a decisive factor of advantage or disadvantage and, thus all policies and practices are assumed to apply equally and undiscriminatingly to both sexes. The extension of compulsory education to eight years has not been effective in decreasing the high attrition rates for girls evident in the underdeveloped regions of Turkey. Males retain a considerable edge in access at the secondary level, both at the academic and vocational level. Moreover, the primary beneficiaries of state incentives, such as scholarships and boarding schools, are male. The formal and non-formal vocational education system can be characterized by pervasive sex-linked streaming, with the result that girls/women are not offered the same curriculum and program options as boys/men. There is no legislation centering on the development of gender-sensitive materials, curriculum, or teacher training. The gender-neutral nature of education policies serves to foster the belief that males and females are benefiting equally; similarly it serves to mask the inequitable distribution of knowledge and skills between men and women.