Abstract
<p>In this study, I aim to provide an analysis of gender equality in the Turkish education system by looking at policies and their outcomes on girl’s schooling. My goal is to demonstrate the ways educational policies have been complicit in reproducing inequality and difference between the sexes by examining what issues regarding education and gender have become a part of public discourse, and which issues have not. The investigation of the role of the state in contributing to gendered outcomes in education is operationalized by two data gathering processes. The first is document analysis of policy documents which are the Article 42. Of the Constitution, Basic Law of National Education. Law 1739, and Basic Education Reform Act. No. 4306. The second is the collection of educational statistics and documents that would shed light to the condition of girls’ education in Turkey. The data draws on policies directly related to education to understand how gender equality is conceptualized. The central finding of the study is that the educational policies and practices in Turkey are based on the premises of “formal equality” and “meritocracy” which aims to provide the same opportunities to every member of society. However, the functional view of schooling based on the concepts of “formal equality” and “meritocracy” fosters the belief that males and females are benefitting equally and serve to mask the inequitable distribution of knowledge and skills between men and women. Therefore, educational policies continue to be gender-neutral, far from challenging the gender dynamics that discriminate against girls and women. Article 42. of the Constitution, the Basic Law of National Education. Law 1739., the Basic Education Reform Act. No. 4306 and its extension, 4+Reform, focuses on the expansion and improvement of primary and secondary education, but does not carry any special measures to change the structures and relations that discriminate against girls. No national policies to counter the impact of negative socialization by curriculum and textbook revision have been adopted. Moreover, high female attrition rates especially in the underdeveloped regions of Turkey continue to exist. Gender-streaming is still apparent in the program choices made in vocational and higher education. Turkey depends on macro education policies without any gender differentiation to ensure educational equality.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0661/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>
Highlights
In most countries, especially with the international pressure on gender equality, governments are taking various measures to alleviate the existing disparities between men and women
The Dakar conference on “Engendering Equality: Education and Empowerment” by the UN Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) held in 2010 highlighted the need to ensure that gender equality needs to be at the center of all educational practices
Concerning women’s equal access to education, Turkey occupies 113th place (World Economic Forum, 2020). These results indicate that for Turkey there is still a long way to go to achieve gender equality
Summary
Especially with the international pressure on gender equality, governments are taking various measures to alleviate the existing disparities between men and women These efforts can be seen in various forms, from specific gender policies to national action plans. Countless studies of state policies- whether expressed through welfare programs, laws, educational institutions, interventions in the labor market, family policies-conclude that state actions affect the ways in "which feminine and masculine lives are constructed" (Jenson, 1986, p.9). While such observations suggest that the state activity does contribute to the constitution of gender inequality, observation of such effects do not constitute any explanation why it exists. The following section will examine the theories of the state and gender from three feminist perspectives- liberal, social and radical- and how they define social equality and give shape to gender policies in education
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