“Women in working life” in the early years of republican Turkey

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article will explore the experiences of working women in the late 1920s as expressed by themselves. It will reflect on women’s experiences in work in the early years of the Republic through the example of a survey titled ‘Women in Working Life’ (İş Hayatında Kadın) published in the Vakit Newspaper between March 31 and May 4 1929. It will ask questions related to class, gender, and being in paid work as a woman in the early years of the republic. For this purpose, first, the legacy of the late Ottoman context in terms of women’s participation in paid work will be briefly discussed to better the changes in the early republican context. I will first briefly introduce the legacy of the late Ottoman context in terms of women’s participation in paid work to better understand the transformation in the early republican context. Then, based on the survey in the Vakit newspaper, the article will present the testimonies of the working women -most of whom were pioneers in their fields- and discuss being a working woman/professional in the early republican context.