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

Women’s 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. Contents Introduction of the Project Summary of Statistical Data

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

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  1. Women’s Participation in Higher Education in Turkey: NETFA project and some implications for structural changes 4th EuropeanWomenRectors Conference Istanbul, Turkey, 15-17 May, 2014

  2. Contents • Introduction of the Project • Summary of Statistical Data • Summary of FindingsandDiscussion

  3. Introductionandthebackground of theproject:UNICAFE Project Istanbul Technical University took part in a project fundedunderthe 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, Estoniaand 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)

  4. 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 variousuniversities in Turkey. Main research topics were: • Gender differences in research careers, • criticalareas where women are underrepresented, leading university positions, • access to funding, • work-life balance

  5. Partner UniversitiesandList of Participants 1) İstanbul Technical University (Coordinator) Established in 1773 andlocated in İstanbul. Prof. Dr. Gülsün Sağlamer, Prof. Dr. Mine G. Tan, Doç. Dr. Pelin Dursun, Dr. Özge A. Çelik, Dr. Nebile Korucu Gümüşoğlu, Hülya Çağlayan, Serra Cankur 2) Akdeniz University Established in 1982 andlocated in Antalya. Prof. Dr. Nurşen Adak, Doç.Dr. Gözde Yirmibeşoğlu, Meral Timurtürkan, TuğceTunca 3) Ankara UniversityEstablishedin 1946 andlocated in Ankara. Team members: Doç. Dr. Bedriye Poyraz, Seray Ulusoy 4) Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University Established in 1992 andlocated in Çanakkale. Assoc. Prof. Selver Ö. Kahraman, Dr. Zahide A. Deniz, Berrin Gültay 5) Karadeniz Technical University Established in 1955 andlocated in Trabzon. Assoc. Prof. İlkay Özdemir, Prof. Dr. Ayşe Sağsöz, Assist. Prof. Muteber Erbay 6) Kocaeli University Established in 1976 andlocated in Kocaeli. Prof.Dr. Münevver Tekcan, Serpil Yazıcı Şahin, Yusuf Gürcan Şahin 7) Yıldız Technical University Established in 1911 andlocated in İstanbul. Dr. Ece Öztan, Dr. Setenay Nil Doğan

  6. Consortium NETFA Project Dissemination Conference 7th June 2013, ITU

  7. Methodology

  8. FemalePhDholders in differentscientificareas (%)2009 Theproportion of femalePh D holders in Turkeyapproximatestheproportions in the EU-27 and EU-25 countries EU-27: 46 % EU- 25: 45 % Turkey: 45 % Education - Humanitiesand Art – SocialSciences ,Management , Law - Natural Sciences, Maths, ComputerScience – Engineering – AgriculturalandVetenarySciences – HealthSciences InTurkey, proportionsof female researchers with a PhD degree in suchfields as naturalsciences, mathematics, computer science, health sciences, engineering, manufacturing and constructionexceedthose of theircounterparts in EU-25 countries.

  9. Observations At Grade A level (professors) EU -27 average: 20 % Highestrankingcountires : Romania– Litvania – Turkey Theproportion of femaleprofessors (28%) in Turkey, with a population of 75 millions, becomesmorenoticeable at theEuropeanlevelwhencompared toLithania ve Romania, countries with small populations. At Grade B level (associateprofessors) EU -27 average : 37 % Turkey: 35 % Belowtheaverages of EU -27 At Grade C level (assistantprofesors ) : EU- 27 : 44 % Turkey:48 % Ahead of the EU-27 average At Grade D level (researchassistants) : EU- 27: 46 % Turkey: 48 % Ahead of EU-27 averages Turkey approximatestheEuropean average of 40% in total

  10. GlassCeiling Index, EU (2004, 2010) With a value of 1.52 Turkey is the country showingthelowest glass ceilingindex at theEuropeanlevel

  11. Observations Althoughthere is a relativelyhighrepresentation of women in theuniversitiesandthe "glassceiling" effect is verylowwhencomparedtomostEuropeancountries, therearestillveryfewwomen in thedecisionmakingbodies of theuniversites in Turkey. 9 womenrectors 2010 12 Womenrectors2012 (7%) in a total of 173 universities Total of 173 Universities Numberof FemaleViceRectors: 18 Number of FemaleDeans: 96

  12. FindingsandDiscussionSummary of theStatistical Data Gathered by Partner Universities

  13. Students Proportion of FemaleStudents at UndergraduateandGraduateLevels, 2012 In total, the universities ITU, YTU which focus on engineering and natural sciences haveapproxiamately 35%femalerepresentation. Comprehensiveuniversities haveupto55%.

  14. Distribution of FemaleStudents at Graduatelevel, 2012 A decrease in theproportions of female students at MA and PhD levels in all 7 universitieswasobservedbetween 2010-2012

  15. Proportion of female academic staff, 2012 Proportion of female academic staffbygrade The proportion of female professors varies between 39 % in Ankara University and 10% in ÇOMU.

  16. A) TheProportionof FemaleAcademicStaffbyAcademic Grade andGender B) TheProportion of MaleAcademicStaffby Grade andGender Thedifferencebetweentheproportions of “assistant professors” and “fullprofessors” is considered an importantindicatorsignifyingboththelosses in theacademicprogressandtheverticalsegregation. 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%andin ITU 11%. Kocaeli University can also be added to this group with 16%.The rest havequitebigdifferences in terms of femalerepresentation at theselevelssuch as: Ankara : 20% Akdeniz : 25% ÇOMU: 37% KTU: 24%

  17. SomeObservationsforFemaleStudentsandAcademicStaff • Concentrationof female students in certain disciplines in line with the cultural stereotypes pointstothehorizontalsegregation in theuniversitiesunderstudy. • In5 of the partner universitiesthegreatestnumber of femalestudentsareregistered in thefaculties of sciencesand letters. In 3 universities,however,architecturefaculties have the greatest number of female students. Similartendencieshavebeenobservedin variousEU countries. • Correspondingproportionsof female academics andfemalestudentswereobserved indifferentfaculties of almostalluniversities. • 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.

  18. SomeObservations on DecisionMakingBodies The high ratios of female academics in Turkey have not been reflected at thelevel of administrationin the partner universities of this project, either. Inspite of thepositivedevelopments in women’s representation, a noticeabledecrease in women’s participation in decision making bodieshavebeenobserved. InSweden 45% of rectorswhereas in Turkeyonly 7% arefemale Contrary to Sweden where universities take measures towards increasing women’s representation at decisionmakinglevels, Turkey has not takenanystepstoimprovethesituation.

  19. OnlineQuestionnaires Questionnaires covered • Demographiccharacteristics • Jobpromotions • Workplacesatisfaction, workinghoursandcareerbreaks • Academicactivity • Research • Participation in Nationaland International ResearchProjects • Success • Opinions on promotion of genderequality

  20. InterviewThema Interviewsfocused on • Careerpath • Currentposition • Access toresources • Publications • Work – life balance • Criticalareas, i.e. Discrimination • Criteria of excellence

  21. Career Path and Access to Resources • 46.2% of women and 36.2% of men pointed tothe 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 besidestheeconomicreasonsforbothsexesinterruptions in women’s carreersareduemostly topregnancyandearlychildcare while men face problems of mandatory military service and foreign language inadequacy (Financial &work-life balance issues) • The search for scholarships is a decisivestrategy employed by women.The number of female PhD students who receive scholarships exceedsthe number of male PhD students who do the same (Gender specific scholarships and awards)

  22. 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 workare 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)

  23. Work – Life Balance • The narratives of women show that a certain manifestation of ‘loss’has been associatedwith women’s responsibilities towards childrenandhousehold. 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 havetowork very hard during the process of their PhD studies and 3-5 years afterwards,latertendto devotewhatever time leftfromtheiracademicobligationstolook after their families and children rather than getting involved in managerial positions. Thefemaleintervieweesconsideredprofessorshipas thepositionwhich would freethemfromtherestrictionsandpressuresandenableingthem tousetheir time andcapacitiesto a fullextent.

  24. WorkPlaceSatisfaction • Men seemed to be more pleased than women with their mentors. A closer lookat 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 themale 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 resourcesand the lack of time. Just as women’s 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)

  25. ResearchandScientificExcellence • In terms of participation in national and international projects, women hada better performance than men. It wasobserved that the number of applicationsas well asthe degree of success in the projects and the amount of projects successfully completedwereallgreaterforwomenthan men. • The decisive factor, which brings along success in scientific research, is forbothwomen and men ‘determination and hard work’. The most important factor forsuccess 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 differenceswerefoundto be statisticallysignificant. Women needed more peercooperation and support in thestruggle with the tensions between the academia and the household responsibilities, which occur due to lack of time, intensive working environment and career breaks. • Considering men’s advantageous positions as mentors, the ways in which women successfully competeforresearch projects arerelated to the ways in which they manage to develop higher degrees of cooperation.

  26. AcademicActivities • 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. • Women’sdilemma of time was defined as such: They hadlittle time for their families due to their intensive working environment and less time for work because of the tensionsarising from household responsibilities.

  27. Conclusions • Thefindings of the NETFA Project uncoverthe contradictory dynamics of the academia in Turkey. • Thesedynamicsaredeeply rooted in what seems to be as the egalitarian practicesandarrangements of thehighereducationsystemin RepublicanTurkey, as well as the ageoldculturalpatternsandstereotypes of thesociety. • Our data revealtheanxieties and the conflicts entailedbythesecontradictionsthat academicwomen experience in theircareers. • With regards to how toimprovegender equality in academia, women and men have differing opinions. • Female academics draw attention tosuchsolutions as genderspecificbenefits, flexible work regulations, gender quotas, special units to deal withviolence, harassment, mobbingandsexism in universities, transparency and the equal distribution of funds for academic research.

  28. Suggestions Forfurtherresearch • Regionaldifferencesamongtheuniversities • The decrease of female students at MA and PhD levels • Comparison of the NETFA Project Resultswith UNICAFE Project Results Forfurtheraction • Establishment of NETFA website • Widening of the Network of FemaleAcademicianstocoverall of theuniversities in Turkey

  29. ThankYou

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