Reconsidering girls’ education in Turkey from a capabilities and feminist perspective

• Published in: International journal of educational development Vol. 49; pp. 134 - 143
• Main Authors: Cin, Firdevs Melis, Walker, Melanie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2016
• Subjects: Capabilities approach; Gender equality; Girls’ education; Turkey; Girls’ education; Gender equality; Turkey; Capabilities approach
• ISSN: 0738-0593; 1873-4871
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2016.02.007

•The article argues for the importance of capabilities in girls’ education to offer a substantive understanding of gender equality beyond numerical gender parity.•It acknowledges the gains but also the critical limitations of campaigns and initiatives launched in Turkey to support girls’ education, from a feminist perspective.•Drawing on empirical data, the research offers policy recommendations and courses of actions to address gender inequalities experienced by girls in Turkey. This paper re-considers girls’ education in Turkey from both a capabilities and a feminist perspective. First, it critically looks at the policies, legislation, and NGO and government led campaigns aiming to increase girls’ enrolment, and points out the lack of feminist perspectives and concerns in these initiatives. Then, drawing from 20 in-depth interviews with girls and 5 interviews with teachers in the most socio-economically deprived region of Turkey, the paper explores girls’ schooling and educational opportunities in Eastern Turkey from a combined capabilities and feminist perspective, in order to generate a richer information basis than numbers alone for policy and evaluation. The findings tease out capabilities which are missing in the focus of policies and campaigns, and invite a re-design of educational policies and initiatives from a capabilities-focused praxis that is context and gender sensitive.