Women Physicists in Turkey

Abstract

Turkey is a country of 72 million, 50% women. By law, women in Turkey have had equal educational and political rights since 1934, and they have been becoming better represented in all areas since that date. More than 50% of the population is less than 25 years old. There are around 80 universities, both public and private, in Turkey. Therefore, there is room for only a small portion of the young population (around 10%) who graduated from high school to attend a university. They have to pass the university exam, which leads to much competition. The largest universities are located in big cities, especially in Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey. There are around 20 universities, public and private, in Istanbul. In Turkey, the university student population is nearly equally split among male and female. During academic year 1997–1998, 40.4% of students were female; in 2000–2001 it was 42.7%; and in 2003–2004 it increased to 44.8%. According to the data collected from the Turkish Student Selection and Placement Center (www.osym.gov.tr/BelgeGoster.aspx), female students are more successful than male students on the university exam. According to this report, while 85.9% of female students were successful in attending a university, only 76.9% of male students passed the university exam in 2003. Physics is studied as a general education subject in almost all universities (except for a few private universities) in Turkey. The faculty positions in physics departments held by women in all universities and institutions in 2001 and 2005 are given in Table 1. The distribution of Turkish women physicists among and within universities according to their academic positions is shown in Table 2. The average proportion of total female physicists is around 26%. It decreased 3% compared with the results of the 2001 survey by the IUPAP Working Group on Women in Physics [1,2]. Although the total proportion slightly decreased, the number of faculty positions held by women increased (Table 1). As seen from Tables 1 and 2, the percentage of women occupying academic positions decreases as the level of position increases. This decrease is most probably caused by delays in the academic lives of some women physicists due to the child care. It was also reported that large amount of physicist-mothers preferred giving up their jobs when they had to make a choice [2]. There is almost no research being done in industry in Turkey. The private industries prefer to buy imported technology rather than to develop their own, due to the high cost of research. Finding a job as a physicist outside a public institution is not easy, except as a teacher in a secondary school. The scientific research is mostly carried out at public institutions and universities. The salaries of research scientists are usually very low at these institutions. According to questionnaire results from 2001, low salary and insufficient working/research conditions play important roles in women giving up physics [3]. Therefore, most physicists work in different areas after getting their master’s degree in a popular subject, such as computer science or business administration. What can be done to improve the situation of women (and male) physicists in Turkey? The answer to this question is mostly related to the economy. If the connection between scientific research and the development of new technologies is improved or encouraged by the government, most of the people who graduate in physics can work in their own discipline. Also, working and research conditions should be improved in public institutions. TABLE 1. Faculty Positions in Physics Departments held by women in 2001 and 2005