Women and Education

Women

The radical move of switching to the 4+4+4 education system has increased the tendency of girls, who are fifth and sixth graders, to abandon their education. The allowance of homeschooling for the high school students resulted in over 100,000 female students to abandon their education within the first year of its introduction. Vocational and technical schools which train personnel for the labor market are really inefficient in routing female students to new professions.

The labor force participation rate of Turkish women is way behind the 1990 rates and is very low by international standards. In 2012, the labor force participation rate of Turkish women was 29%, whereas this rate was 24% in the rural areas. The labor force participation rate of women in EU and OECD countries amount to 60%. Turkey ranks last with its women labor participation rate in OECD countries and there is also a huge difference between the labor participation rate of Mexico which is last but one in the ranking list with 47.1%.

Many women are directed for not working or working only in certain job fields due to reasons like “this work environment is not suitable for women” or “that work is against our customs and traditions”.

Rights like leaving the job with severance pay for newly-wed women or extended maternity leave, which came into force within the AKP government’s period, are not encouraging for women employment.

According to a World Bank report, women in Turkey are paid 20% less in average than men.

The needed institutional and structural support (full day school, low priced and good quality nursery) are not provided for working women who have to ensure family/work-life balance.

57.8% of employed women in Turkey are working without being registered to any social security institutions.

What to do?

Vocational pass-through and diversity for both men and women will be provided. For this purpose, women will be encouraged and trained to prefer and perform jobs which are referred...