Professional women in Turkey: a qualitative study

Download
2002
Gencher, Siv Dale
The Turkish state has developed few policies and legal structures aimed to support female work participation compared to several "western countries". Despite the lack of formal support structures encouraging female work participation, Turkish professional women show a high level of work attachment and succeed professionally in fields that are male dominated in "western" countries. This study explores the choices, priorities and experiences of a group of (eighteen) professional women in Turkey, and how these choices and organisation of daily life are influenced by specific historical, social and cultural structures in the Turkish society. Kemalism and the reforms of the Kemalist state, created a positive and supportive environment for professional women in Turkey. An informal support structure consisting of mother's and mother' s-in-law offering childcare together with the availability of affordable domestic labour, becomes a iiistrategy for the women in this research to overcome the multiple demands faced in their professional and private lives. Professional women's experience and perception of work, sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace are also studied in this research

Suggestions

UNDP's approach to women's rights: dthe case of Turkey
Devlet, Yelda; Ertürk, Yakın; Department of Gender and Women's Studies (2006)
This study has focused on UNDP’s approach to women’s rights particularly in Turkey. In order to provide a context for the discussion of the role of the UNDP in Turkey on the realization of women’s rights, the thesis examines the emergence of women’s rights discourse within the international arena and its repercussions in Turkey. This has facilitated the understanding of (1) the emergence of a women’s rights movement at the global level, (2) the spread of the idea and perception of ‘women’s rights’ movement ...
Factors affecting women’s presence in municipal councils and the results of participation: case studies in Elazığ, Gaziantep and Siirt provinces of Turkey
Oğuz, Hazal; Yavuz, Nilay; Department of Urban Policy Planning and Local Governments (2015)
Although in the recent years there is a remarkable increase in the rate of women in local governments in Turkey, it is obvious that there is lack of women’s participation and representation in local politics organizations. Literature has emphasized the notion of gender equality through investigating the reasons of low level of participation and tried to explain participation problem with this notion heretofore. However, the reasons behind women’s participating or not participating in administration of munic...
Immigrant domestic women workers in Ankara and Istanbul
Çelik, Nihal; Ecevit, Fatma Yıldız; Department of Sociology (2005)
This study focuses on the relationship between global economy and women̕s labor within a feminist standpoint by examining the personal and occupational experiences of immigrant women doing domestic work in Turkey. The main concern of this study is to investigate how working and living experiences of immigrant domestic women workers in Turkey are shaped by their illegal worker and immigrant status. The aim of this study is to listen to the personal experiences of immigrant domestic women workers from themsel...
Gendered fields in women's leisure time experiences: the case of 'gün' meetings in Ankara
Karayiğit, Ebru; Tokluoğlu, Ayşe Ceylan; Department of Sociology (2015)
Gun is a particular form of female association which is mainly practiced by urban-middle class women in Turkey as a form of leisure time activity where women groups periodically meet with each other. It is also a form of 'social field' where women are positioned through their gendered existences. This thesis attempts to analyze gendered fields in women's leisure time experiences based on an ethnographic study of two gun meetings in Ankara, namely Karadenizliler and Komşular meetings. In light of gender stud...
The critical overview of the European Union gender equality policies and their implications for Turkey
Gökalp, N. Ela; Ertürk, Yakın; Department of Sociology (2005)
Since the 1990̕s, interest in the European Union (EU) gender equality policies has increased among feminist scholars and activists. In this context, studies focusing on equal pay for work of equal value, equal treatment in education, and access to employment, among others have been undertaken and different dimensions of the EU gender equality policies have been a subject of much debate. This thesis is an effort to critically review the potential of these policies vis-à-vis their capacity to bring about gend...
Citation Formats
S. D. Gencher, “Professional women in Turkey: a qualitative study,” Middle East Technical University, 2002.