https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3214-1081
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ABSTRACT
There is an increasing number of works on the gendered nature of Turkish academia. However, most of the research is focused on experiences of female academics. There is a gap in the literature on perceptions of male researchers. This article aims to fill the void in the literature by examining perceptions of male scholars based on interviews with 80 male scholars. Research questions of the study are (1) what is the perception of male scholars toward gender in/equality at workplace?; and (2) how do they interpret the academic promotion and the managerial positions? The main contribution of the study is that in the Turkish case different inequalities feed into each other and the conservative political climate seems have an impact as well. This article aims to contribute to the masculinities literature through analyzing the main characteristics of sustainable patriarchy and exploring the gendered order of academia in a Muslim-majority society.
Acknowledgements
The research for this study was conducted at Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen during 14 June–10 September 2021 thanks to a scholarship of the German Academic Exchange Service (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst—DAAD). I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Prof. Zuhal Yeşilyurt Gündüz for all her valuable help in preparing this paper from the very beginning until the very end. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Prof. Mustafa Özbilgin, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bezen Balamir Coşkun and Assoc. Prof. Başak Yavcan for all their significant feedback. In addition, I am grateful to Zekiye Gürün and Cenay Gürhan from the Center for Gender Studies at TED University for their valuable help in research. This article is dedicated to the students, scholars and alumni of Boğaziçi University in İstanbul.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Centre for Strategic Research, “Dışişleri Bakanı Sayın Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.”
2 YÖK, “Türk akademisinde kadınlar.”
3 European Commission, “Gender Gap.”
4 For a comprehensive work on this issue, see Healy et al., “Academic Employment and Gender.”
5 There is a vast literature on female academics in Turkey. The following studies are just a few examples among many: Aksatan et al., “Women academics in tourism”; Demirtaş and Yeşilyurt-Gündüz, “Türkiye’de Uluslararası İlişkiler Disiplininde”; Karakuş, “Delik Boru”; Seyman, “Dört vardiyalı kadınlar!”; and Özdemirkıran and Öner, “Türkiye’de Kadın Uluslararası İlişkiler.””
6 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
7 “The Role of Men and Boys.”
8 Scott, “Gender,”1054 and 1069.
9 Hearn and Hawson, “The institutionalization,” 19.
10 Tickner, “Searching for the Princess,” 44–8.
11 Pleck and Sawyer, Men and Masculinities, I.
12 Silverstein, “The history.”
13 Balamir Coşkun, “A Retrospective Study.”
14 Tuncer, “Cinsiyetlendirilmiş Bir Kurum Olarak Akademi.”
15 “Berkeley Men’s Center Manifesto,” 173–4. Italics mine.
16 Acker, “From Sex Roles,” 567.
17 Ibid.
18 Acker, “Inequality Regimes,” 443.
19 Ibid., 450–1.
20 For further elaboration on how female scholars are discriminated against during recruitment, promotion, daily work and at managerial positions see Demirtaş and Yeşilyurt-Gündüz, “Türkiye’de Uluslararası İlişkiler Disiplininde.”
21 Enloe, The Bigh Push, ix–x.
22 Ibid., 49.
23 Ibid., 17–18.
24 Ibid., 17.
25 Ibid., 22 and 162.
26 Ibid., 162.
27 Ibid., 147.
28 Ibid., 164.
29 See the research conducted by Cech and Waidzunas on the perceptions of LGBTQ individuals. This includes “LGBTQ@NASA and Beyond”;“Systemic Inequalities for LGBTQ”; and “Navigating.”
30 YÖK, “Yükseköğretim Kurulu üyeleri.”
31 YÖK, “Özet Öğretim Elemanı Sayıları Raporu,” and TÜİK, “İstatistiklerle Kadın.”
32 “Yıldız Ecevit: ‘Kadın araştırma.’”
33 Şahin and Kasap, “Türkiye’deki üniversitelerde.”
34 Both quotes from “YÖK’ten cinsiyet eşitliğinde geri adım.”
35 Koyuncu and Özman, “Women’s rights organisations”; Yeğenoğlu and Coşar, “The AKP”; Aksoy, Patriarchat im Wandel; and Ün and Arıkan, “Europeanization and De-europeanization.”
36 “Dindar bir gençlik.”
37 Demirtaş and Yeşilyurt-Gündüz, “Türkiye’de Uluslararası İlişkiler Disiplininde.”
38 Interviews conducted by Demirtaş and Yeşilyurt-Gündüz, “Türkiye’de Uluslararası İlişkiler Disiplininde.” Also see Karakuş, “Delik Boru,” 540; Seyman, “Dört vardiyalı kadınlar!”; and Özdemirkıran and Öner, “Türkiye’de Kadın.”
39 See note 37 above.
40 Sattari and Sandefur, “Gender in academic STEM,”163.
41 Ibid.
42 Ibid., 165.
43 Ibid., 170–1.
44 Gezici Yalçın and Tanrıverdi, “ ‘Kavanozu açan’ erkeklerle.” In addition, for a pioneering study on the masculinities in Turkey based on fieldwork, see Sancar, Erkeklik.
45 Altınoluk, “Cinsiyetlendirilmiş kurum olarak.”
46 Gürkan, “Erkek akademisyenlerin toplumsal cinsiyet.”
47 YÖK. “Türkiye akademisinde kadınlar.”
48 It is obvious that it would be useful to conduct surveys of male scholars in other departments to get a better picture of the perceptions of male academics in Turkish universities. The departments with the least female presence, such as STEM departments, would be worthwhile to conduct a comprehensive survey. Similarly, it would make sense to carry out research at the departments of sociology and linguistics, at which male scholars are the minority. However, because of the three reasons stated above, this study focused on IR departments. This work can be accepted as the preliminary work on the issue.
49 The provinces included in the research are İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Adana, Antalya, Batman, Bolu, Bursa, Çanakkale, Edirne, Erzurum, Eskişehir, Giresun, Kastamonu, Kırıkkale, Kırşehir, Kocaeli, Konya, Malatya, Mardin, Muğla, Nevşehir, Rize, Sakarya, Trabzon, Yozgat.
50 For further explanation of social desirability bias see Chung and Monroe, “Exploring Social Desirability Bias,” and Randall and Fernandes, “The Social Desirability Response Bias.”
51 Due to space limitations, findings related to participation in media will discussed in an additional study/article.
52 Interviewee No 1 and 29.
53 Interviewee No 1.
54 Interviewee No 5.
55 Interviewees No 5, 35. 53
56 Interviewee No 9.
57 Interviewee No 71
58 Interviewee No 41.
59 Interviewee No 27.
60 Interviewee No 10.
61 See note 56 above.
62 Interviewees No 15 and 20.
63 Interviewees No 21 and 23.
64 See note 56 above.
65 Ibid.
66 “Erdoğan: Feministlerin dinimizle ilgisi yok.”
67 “Erdoğan: Kadın erkek eşitliği fıtrata ters.”
68 There are 209 universities in Turkey. It is the AKP’s policy to open at least one university in each province. Today each Turkish province has at least one university.
69 Demirtaş andYeşilyurt-Gündüz, “Türkiye’de Uluslararası İlişkiler Disiplininde.”
70 Interviewee No 61.
71 Interviewee No 59.
72 Interviewee No 42.
73 See note 37 above.
74 See note 57 above.
75 See note 57 above.
76 Interviewee No 47.
77 Interviewee No 35.
78 Interviewee No 51.
79 Interviewee No 50.
80 See note 77 above.
81 Interviewee No 57.
82 See note 59 above.
83 Interviewee No 12.
84 Interviewee No 16.
85 Interviewees No 16 and 23.
86 Interviewee No 3.
87 Interviewees No 39, 42 and 47.
88 See note 59 above.
89 See note 77 above.
90 See note 57 above.
91 Ibid.
92 Interviewee No 37 underlined the importance of how the existing gender inequalities are further strengthened by the current state of Turkish politics.
93 Interviewees No 5 and 6.
94 Interviewees No 1 and 17.
95 See note 72 above.
96 Interviewees No 34 and 35.
97 Interviewee No 37.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Birgül Demirtaş
Birgül Demirtaş is a professor of International Relations at the Department of Political Science and International Relations of the Turkish-German University in Istanbul. She completed her BA degree at Boğaziçi University, MA degree at Bilkent University, and Ph.D. at Freie Universität Berlin. Her studies concentrate on Turkish foreign policy, German foreign policy, Balkan politics, and gender. She was a member of the editorial board of the academic journal Uluslararası İlişkiler (International Relations) between 2004 and 2021 and was deputy editor of the journal of Perceptions between 2014 and 2018. She has published articles in Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, Middle East Policy, Iran and the Caucasus, Internationale Politik, Femina Politica, WeltTrends, Ankara Journal of European Studies, and Turkish Yearbook of International Relations.