Women

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Womens Participation in Higher Education in
Turkey NETFA project and some implications for
structural changes

• 4th European Women Rectors Conference
• Istanbul, Turkey, 15-17 May, 2014

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• Contents
• Introduction of the Project
• Summary of Statistical Data
• Summary of Findings and Discussion

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Introduction and the background of the project
UNICAFE Project

• Istanbul Technical University took part in a
  project funded under the FP6 by EC between
  2006-2008 titled UNICAFE (Survey of University
  Career of Female Scientists at Life Sciences
  versus Technical Universities/Proposal Contract
  No 036695)
• In this project it was observed that Turkey in
  terms of women academics set a unique example of
  high representation among the partner countries
  which included Hungary, Austria, Finland, Estonia
  and Italy.
• After completing the above mentioned project and
  organizing its dissemination conference at ITU in
  2008 we decided to use the same methodology in a
  new project for a study of various universities
  in Turkey. The new study was called The Formation
  of the Network of Female Academicians in Science
  Engineering and Technology in Turkey.
• (NETFA)

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Aim and Scope of the Project

• Duration August 2010 - May 2013
• Aim enhancing the existing knowledge on the
  gender (dis)parity and career patterns of female
  academics in science, engineering and technology
  in various universities in Turkey.
• Main research topics were
• Gender differences in research careers,
• critical areas where women are underrepresented,
  leading university positions,
• access to funding,
• work-life balance

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Partner Universities and List of Participants
1) Istanbul Technical University (Coordinator)
Established in 1773 and located in Istanbul.
Prof. Dr. Gülsün Saglamer, Prof. Dr. Mine G.
Tan, Doç. Dr. Pelin Dursun, Dr. Özge A. Çelik,
Dr. Nebile Korucu Gümüsoglu, Hülya Çaglayan,
Serra Cankur

• 2) Akdeniz University
• Established in 1982 and located in Antalya. Prof.
  Dr. Nursen Adak, Doç.Dr. Gözde Yirmibesoglu,
  Meral Timurtürkan, Tugce Tunca
• 3) Ankara University Established in 1946 and
  located in Ankara.
• Team members Doç. Dr. Bedriye Poyraz, Seray
  Ulusoy
• 4) Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University
• Established in 1992 and located in Çanakkale.
  Assoc.
  Prof. Selver Ö. Kahraman, Dr. Zahide A. Deniz,
  Berrin Gültay

• 5) Karadeniz Technical University
• Established in 1955 and located in Trabzon.
• Assoc. Prof. Ilkay Özdemir, Prof. Dr. Ayse
  Sagsöz, Assist. Prof. Muteber Erbay
• 6) Kocaeli University
• Established in 1976 and located in Kocaeli.
• Prof.Dr. Münevver Tekcan, Serpil Yazici Sahin,
  Yusuf Gürcan Sahin
• 7) Yildiz Technical University
• Established in 1911 and located in Istanbul.
• Dr. Ece Öztan, Dr. Setenay Nil Dogan

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Consortium
NETFA Project Dissemination Conference 7th June
2013, ITU
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Methodology
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Female PhD holders in different scientific areas
()2009
The proportion of female Ph D holders in Turkey
approximates the proportions in the EU-27 and
EU-25 countries EU-27 46 EU- 25 45
Turkey 45
Education - Humanities and Art Social Sciences
,Management , Law - Natural Sciences, Maths,
Computer Science Engineering Agricultural and
Vetenary Sciences Health Sciences
In Turkey, proportions of female researchers
with a PhD degree in such fields as natural
sciences, mathematics, computer science, health
sciences, engineering, manufacturing and
construction exceed those of their counterparts
in EU-25 countries.
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Observations

• At Grade A level (professors)
• EU -27 average 20
• Highest ranking countires Romania Litvania
  Turkey
• The proportion of female professors (28) in
  Turkey, with a population of 75 millions, becomes
  more noticeable at the European level when
  compared to Lithania ve Romania, countries with
  small populations.  
• At Grade B level (associate professors)
• EU -27 average 37 Turkey 35 Below
  the averages of EU -27
• At Grade C level (assistant profesors )
• EU- 27 44 Turkey48 Ahead of the
  EU-27 average
• At Grade D level (research assistants)
• EU- 27 46 Turkey 48 Ahead of EU-27
  averages
• Turkey approximates the European average of 40
  in total
•  

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Glass Ceiling Index, EU (2004, 2010)
With a value of 1.52 Turkey is the country
showing the lowest glass ceiling index at the
European level
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Observations

• Although there is a relatively high
  representation of women in the universities and
  the "glass ceiling" effect is very low when
  compared to most European countries, there are
  still very few women in the decision making
  bodies of the universites in Turkey.
• 9 women rectors 2010
• 12 Women rectors 2012 (7) in a total of 173
  universities
• Total of 173 Universities
• Number of Female Vice Rectors 18
• Number of Female Deans 96

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Findings and DiscussionSummary of the
Statistical Data Gathered by Partner Universities
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Students
Proportion of Female Students at Undergraduate
and Graduate Levels, 2012
In total, the universities ITU, YTU which focus
on engineering and natural sciences have
approxiamately 35 female representation.
Comprehensive universities have up to 55.
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Distribution of Female Students at Graduate
level, 2012
A decrease in the proportions of female students
at MA and PhD levels in all 7 universities was
observed between 2010-2012
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Proportion of female academic staff, 2012
Proportion of female academic staff by grade
  A B C D
AKDU 24 36 38 49
AU 39 51 49 59
COMU 10 29 33 47
ITU 35 41 42 46
KTU 13 36 46 37
KOU 33 41 49 49
YTU 37 39 43 46
The proportion of female professors varies
between 39 in Ankara University and 10 in
ÇOMU.
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A) The Proportion of Female Academic Staff
by Academic Grade and Gender B) The Proportion
of Male Academic Staff by Grade and
Gender
The difference between the proportions of
assistant professors and full professors is
considered an important indicator signifying both
the losses in the academic progress and the
vertical segregation. The so called Leaky
Pipeline phenomenon in different universities
showed significant differences both between women
and men and different universities. It was
observed that the difference between the
proportion of female assistant professors and
female full professors in YTÜ is 9 and in ITU
11. Kocaeli University can also be added to
this group with 16. The rest have quite big
differences in terms of female representation at
these levels such as Ankara 20 Akdeniz
25 ÇOMU 37 KTU 24
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Some Observations for Female
Students and Academic Staff

• Concentration of female students in certain
  disciplines in line with the cultural stereotypes
  points to the horizontal segregation in the
  universities under study.
• In 5 of the partner universities the greatest
  number of female students are registered in the
  faculties of sciences and letters. In 3
  universities, however, architecture faculties
  have the greatest number of female students.
• Similar tendencies have been observed in
  various EU countries.

• Corresponding proportions of female academics
  and female students were observed in different
  faculties of almost all universities.
• The faculties where the percentage of female
  academics is highest are Architecture, Design,
  Medical Sciences, Sciences and Letters, Chemistry
  Metallurgy, Dentistry, Pharmaceutics, Medicine,
  Law and Management.

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Some Observations on Decision Making Bodies

• The high ratios of female academics in Turkey
  have not been reflected at the level of
  administration in the partner universities of
  this project, either.
• In spite of the positive developments in womens
  representation, a noticeable decrease in womens
  participation in decision making bodies have been
  observed.
• In Sweden 45 of rectors whereas in Turkey only
  7 are female
• Contrary to Sweden where universities take
  measures towards increasing womens
  representation at decision making levels, Turkey
  has not taken any steps to improve the situation.

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Online Questionnaires

• Questionnaires covered
• Demographic characteristics
• Job promotions
• Work place satisfaction, working hours and career
  breaks
• Academic activity
• Research
• Participation in National and International
  Research Projects
• Success
• Opinions on promotion of gender equality

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Interview Thema

• Interviews focused on
• Career path
• Current position
• Access to resources
• Publications
• Work life balance
• Critical areas, i.e. Discrimination
• Criteria of excellence

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Career Path and Access to Resources

• 46.2 of women and 36.2 of men pointed to the
  pressures and discrimination in the academia as
  the reason for the rejection of the applications
  for academic promotion. 14 of women mentioned
  the negative approaches towards their gender as
  one of the main factors
• (Transparency)
• Another important conclusion about the career
  processes in relation to gender is that women
  experience interruptions in their careers in
  higher rates and for longer periods (Work-life
  balance)
• The in-depth interviews show that besides the
  economic reasons for both sexes interruptions in
  womens carreers are due mostly to pregnancy and
  early child care while men face problems of
  mandatory military service and foreign language
  inadequacy (Financial work-life balance issues)
• The search for scholarships is a decisive
  strategy employed by women. The number of female
  PhD students who receive scholarships exceeds the
  number of male PhD students who do the same
  (Gender specific scholarships and awards)

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Work - Life Balance

• In terms of the use of time, the rates of men who
  find their working hours flexible are higher than
  the rates of women. Women cannot make use of the
  flexibility provided by academia in the same ways
  as men since they have domestic responsibilities
  of family and housework (Care centers for
  children and elder dependents)
• The particular emotion concerning family
  responsibilities is a determining factor for
  women, rather than men. The in-depth interviews
  suggest that the feeling of neglecting family and
  housecare keep on being a source of anxiety and
  unhappiness for women (Change of cultural
  patterns for sharing of household tasks)
• The tensions between home and work are increased
  during PhD and assistant professorship processes
  since these are the periods of intense academic
  obligations as well as biological reproduction
  and motherhood for many young women candidates
  (Supports specific to these stages)

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Work Life Balance

• The narratives of women show that a certain
  manifestation of loss has been associated with
  womens responsibilities towards children and
  household. A female academic who has been working
  hard to gain her associate professorship stated
  that she has been neglecting her daughter since
  she was 6 months old, and that she has serious
  difficulties in balancing her responsibilities of
  motherhood and the necessities of the academia.
• Women, who have to work very hard during the
  process of their PhD studies and 3-5 years
  afterwards, later tend to devote whatever time
  left from their academic obligations to look
  after their families and children rather than
  getting involved in managerial positions. The
  female interviewees considered professorship as
  the position which would free them from the
  restrictions and pressures and enableing them to
  use their time and capacities to a full extent.

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Work Place Satisfaction

• Men seemed to be more pleased than women with
  their mentors. A closer look at the male networks
  in the academia, therefore, was found to be
  necessary. The current situation where men
  establish close relations through the process of
  mentorship suggested a link with the male
  dominated networks in academia, which also needs
  to be investigated in future research (Formation
  of networks of female academics)
• In terms of job satisfaction, both women and men
  emphasized their dissatisfaction with financial
  resources and the lack of time. Just as womens
  double burden pressured the time needed for
  academic research it also limited the financially
  rewarding work activities outside of academia men
  could get engaged in (Financial improvements)

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Research and Scientific Excellence

• In terms of participation in national and
  international projects, women had a better
  performance than men. It was observed that the
  number of applications as well as the degree of
  success in the projects and the amount of
  projects successfully completed were all greater
  for women than men.
• The decisive factor, which brings along success
  in scientific research, is for both women and men
  determination and hard work. The most important
  factor for success in the projects for men is the
  positive infrastructure, which provides men with
  the necessary advantages while for women,
  cooperation within the academia is the key
  (Mentorship and networks)
• These differences were found to be statistically
  significant. Women needed more peer cooperation
  and support in the struggle with the tensions
  between the academia and the household
  responsibilities, which occur due to lack of
  time, intensive working environment and career
  breaks.
• Considering mens advantageous positions as
  mentors, the ways in which women successfully
  compete for research projects are related to the
  ways in which they manage to develop higher
  degrees of cooperation.

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Academic Activities

• Male and female academics have close rates in
  terms of being MA and PhD level advisors, having
  numbers of publications and evaluations
• The number of conference presentations that women
  undertake is higher than men, a difference which
  was found to be statistically significant.
• Womens dilemma of time was defined as such
  They had little time for their families due to
  their intensive working environment and less time
  for work because of the tensions arising from
  household responsibilities.

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Conclusions

• The findings of the NETFA Project uncover the
  contradictory dynamics of the academia in Turkey.
  
• These dynamics are deeply rooted in what seems
  to be as the egalitarian practices and
  arrangements of the higher education system in
  Republican Turkey, as well as the age old
  cultural patterns and stereotypes of the society.
• Our data reveal the anxieties and the conflicts
  entailed by these contradictions that academic
  women experience in their careers.
• With regards to how to improve gender equality in
  academia, women and men have differing opinions.
• Female academics draw attention to such solutions
  as gender specific benefits, flexible work
  regulations, gender quotas, special units to deal
  with violence, harassment, mobbing and sexism in
  universities, transparency and the equal
  distribution of funds for academic research.

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Suggestions

• For further research
• Regional differences among the universities
• The decrease of female students at MA and PhD
  levels
• Comparison of the NETFA Project Results with
  UNICAFE Project Results
• For further action
• Establishment of NETFA website
• Widening of the Network of Female Academicians
  to cover all of the universities in Turkey

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Thank You