ABSTRACT
The contribution of women to the workforce of a country is paramount for its development, yet women’s involvement in the workforce of Turkey is considerably low. Even though the laws of the country provide for an equal basis for women and men in this regard, the required infrastructural mechanisms for the qualitative development of women, and for their inclusion in the workforce, have not been fully developed yet, creating a persistent problem of a low women employment rate (KSGM, 2010). In the year 2004, the participation of women in the workforce was determined as 23.3%, while it was found to be 24.5% in 2008, 26.0% in 2009, and 29.5% in 2013 (United Nations, 2014). According to the statistics of TÜİK (Turkish Statistical Institute), the current women’s contribution to the workforce is 31.2%. In order to be able to create active workforce policies that can increase women’s employment in Turkey to solve the problem, the factors that influence the women employment rate has to be analyzed first. The aim of this study is to determine the factors that influence women’s participation rates in the workforce and the problems of the city in that regard, and to hopefully contribute to the policies that will be formulated in the future. Twenty men and women who came to Van through migration were met both one-on-one and as groups for in-depth discussions, and the social lives of the participants were inspected. These discussions have revealed how the socio-cultural variables, and the views of the family, relatives, and community, affect the rate of women’s employment, and how they create a resistance to the idea of women in employment. As a result, while some of the women in the study group seem to be interested in working (and three of them have worked in various jobs before), others have not even applied for jobs. Some of the women have stated that they believe it is a sin and something to be ashamed of for women to work, and this is why they do not want to find jobs. Even if they were to find the means to find positions in various jobs, they still would seek jobs where it is possible for them to work alone, or where men and women do not work together. All of the male participants have stated that they find it natural for the women to work, but they still would not allow their spouses to do it. They stated that women could work as teachers or nurses in the government institutions, but they are against the idea of women working as unskilled laborers. It seems that migration from rural areas to cities, lack of education, unskilled workforce, social oppression, and various existing cultural misbeliefs regarding workingwomen are the primary factors against woman in employment. The suggestions by the participants of the study regarding the subject can be summarized as follows: running campaigns to change existing mentality, altering the men’s perspective on the subject, increasing the number of factories, creating job opportunities in the governmental institutions, establishing various training courses, and offering job guarantees.
