Women do well in academia, but are not yet equal

The issue of gender inequality is a problem that is as old as human history and we have reason not to be over-optimistic in our expectations when we remember that women were accepted to colleges and universities only 150 years ago.

Data for academic staff by gender shows patterns of both horizontal segregation, for instance regarding women’s lack of participation in scientific areas, and vertical segregation, which is used to define the difficulties women face in terms of career progression.

The European Commission’s She Figures, which present statistics on gender equality in science, show that women stand less chance of reaching senior levels in higher education and research institutions and also of holding positions of influence through membership of scientific boards.

Structural as well as cultural barriers appear to be the main factors explaining the reproduction of traditional structures and patterns that support male domination.

The case of Turkey

She Figures (2009) show that the proportion of female researchers was 33% in European Union member countries, compared to 36% in Turkey. In the higher education sector this proportion goes up to 40% for EU member countries and 41% for Turkey.

There are disparities among different fields of study and Turkey is one of the leading countries in terms of the distribution of female researchers across different fields.

Turkey has much better female representation than the majority of EU and OECD countries in science, engineering, mathematics and computer science. This applies to PhD graduates, including life sciences where the figure rises to 60%.

Women start with a much higher percentage of representation – such as 55% to 60% – than men at undergraduate level in most of the EU countries, but this percentage goes down after PhD graduation and ends with some 20% of full professorships in Europe being occupied by women. This situation is referred to as a ‘leaky pipeline’.

Women represent 44% for grade C, 37% for grade B and 20% for grade A positions. In science and engineering these proportions are much lower: 32% for grade C, 23% for B grade and 11% for grade A academic staff. The leading EU countries for the proportion of women with full professorship positions are Romania (36%), Lithuania (32%) and Turkey (28%).

By 2012, 42% of academics in Turkey were women, with 29% of full professorships occupied by women, 33% of associate professorships, 37% of assistant professor roles and 49% of research assistants.

In EU member states women professors have only 8% representation in engineering and technology, while this ratio is 19.1% in Turkey. This trend is also reflected in the ratio of female PhD graduates in science and engineering. In Turkey females make up 49% of PhD graduates in science and 39% in engineering while in EU member states these ratios are 40% in science and 26% in engineering.

This is an important indicator for future development that favours Turkey’s young generations.

A glass ceiling index is used as an indicator of vertical segregation in academic careers. If this value is equal to 1, it means that both female and male academics have the same opportunities. If it is lower than 1, this indicates women are in the majority. If the value is higher than 1, then this means men are in the majority in higher education.

Turkey has the lowest glass ceiling value among EU countries. This means that Turkey is experiencing minimum vertical segregation in academia.

Reasons

What are the reasons for this female representation in academia for Turkey? They are both historical and cultural.

The reforms undertaken in the second half of the 19th century Ottoman Empire were concerned with the public status of women and education was the main instrument for promoting it. Through the establishment of the republic in 1923, Kemal Atatürk guaranteed women equal rights in the spheres of education and civil service.

The young republic gave priority to the enrolment of women students, especially in newly opened universities. Starting from the early period of the republic, the internalised republican secular ideology backed by politicians and universities formed a convenient context for teaching young women university graduates.

The first generation of these Turkish women recall the efforts of the newly built republic with gratitude and pride. They were socialised to believe that women were not inferior to men and could be successful in any field they chose to study.

The latter generations of academic women also felt no real limitations or perceived discrimination on account of their gender. Even the support that middle-class families gave to their girls and women for a career in higher education may thus be interpreted as a gendered choice.

For a woman to be a teacher is widely appreciated by society at large, which may be explained by the historical background of women’s education in the 19th century alongside the secular ideology and the forward-looking policies of the republic.

On the other hand, there are several cultural and organisational factors which provided suitable conditions for women academics to establish a good work-life balance in their academic lives, such as an extended-family structure which allows them to have short maternity leave and get back to the workplace quickly.

Another important factor is that many universities provide nurseries and primary and secondary schools on campuses, together with on-campus housing, which makes life easier, while flexible working hours help women academics to organise themselves for their careers.

This last point is a contradiction which needs further research. The relatively favourable representation of women in academia contrasts with the employment rates of women in the labour force (25%) and political representation of women at national level (9%).

To conclude: it is clear that there have been improvements in the representation of women in higher education and research, but even cases of good practice fall short of expectations for equality.

We hope that our whole society will soon be sharing the same opportunities to serve humankind together to make the world a better place.

* Gulsun Saglamer is an executive committee member of the International Association of University Presidents. She spoke at the IAUP triennial conference held in Yokohama from 11-14 June.