Turkish women involve themselves in various aspects of life.Family, career/work, education, health and wellness, social relationships, personal development, community involvement, finance management, hobbies/interests and religion are very common aspects of life in which Turkish women are contributing a lot and handle multiple responsibilities in fulfilling these aspects of life. Turkish women’s experiences are impacted by social structures which include mainly family, education system, workplace and religion. Now,Turkish women are expected by their families, work and social behavior to satisfy the norms of living in the society. In this article, we will mainly cover the top three social norms that the Turkish women typically follow to live their lives.
Turkish Women: Exploring the Evolving Role of Turkish Women in Society and the Workplace
Turkish women demonstrate the multifaceted ways in which they contribute to the smooth functioning of their households.
The Role of Turkish Women in Satisfying Family Demands
In Turkish society, women have been playing a pivotal role in satisfying the demands of their families.They are valued as the cornerstone of family life, fulfilling multiple responsibilities which results in the well being of their households. The roles and responsibilities are associated with emotional support, caregiving and management of the household.
Caregiving: A Central Role of every Turkish woman
Caregiving is one of the primary ways through which Turkish women satisfy the family demands, which mainly include taking care of children. Managing the health needs of the family and looking after old age parents are also the main responsibilities, which every Turkish woman performs. Many Turkish women are doing jobs in workplaces along with providing caregiving to their loved ones. These working women dedicate the remaining time and energy to their families with attention and care. Especially Turkish women who are mothers, play the role of nurturing their children to instill values and confidence in these children in future.
Household Management: Balancing Responsibilities
In addition to caregiving, Turkish women are seen to manage household responsibilities. These women are typically involved in cooking and cleaning. Other important household activities such as budgeting and grocery shopping. Turkish women have been taking on these roles with remarkable efficiency.In most of the cases, these women have exceptional abilities of juggling multiple responsibilities. And these multiple responsibilities mainly include handling day to day chores to ensure that the household operates harmoniously.
Participation of Turkish Women in Workplaces: Contributing to Financial Stability
While performing these traditional roles, many Turkish women are supportive to family demands through their participation in the workplaces. For them, balancing the responsibilities of professional tasks and household responsibilities is a significant challenge. Yet Turkish women are typically seen to manage dual responsibilities with grace simultaneously. Their involvement in the workspace not only keeps the family’s finances stabilized but these women are known as the resilient models for younger generations.
Fostering Family Bonding: Maintaining Unity and Tradition
Furthermore, Turkish women play an important role in fostering family bonding and unity. These women organize family gatherings to fulfill the purpose of maintaining connections with relatives. Efforts are put by them to create a sense of belonging and continuity, which is the backbone of family harmony.
Sharing Home Responsibilities: Creates Stronger and Fairer Families
Turkish society is well aware of the importance of shared responsibilities and recognizes that both men and women make family life fairer. Turkish women get along with their husbands to showcase valuable skills to each other in terms of housework and look after the children.
Note: However, recent reforms and policies have been introduced by the Turkish government to allow parental leaves and flexible working hours i.e working fewer than 30 hours per week for Turkish women. In this way, these women can further improve work-life balance.
The Evolving Role of Turkish Women in Careers: Opportunities, Challenges, and Success Stories
Back to the era of Ottomans, roles of Turkish women were only defined by cultural contexts of that time. At that time, the career opportunities for Turkish women were limited as compared with the 21st century. Turkish women in the Ottoman Empire were confined to their households along with the skills of craftsmanship. Many Turkish women were herbalists and practitioners of folk medicine. Other Turkish women spent their lives in Ottoman palaces as concubines or mistresses of Sultans.
But in the modern era, as Turkey now progresses and modernizes, the landscape of career opportunities for Turkish women has changed as compared with past decades, and the women are seen in diverse sectors.
Opportunities for Turkish Women in the Workforce:
Over recent years, it has been seen that more Turkish women have pursued higher education. Higher education among Turkish women breaks barriers of male-dominated fields. Now, science and technology has opened doors for women in Turkey in careers.
Growth of Female Entrepreneurship in Turkey
Many Turkish women are entrepreneurs who are supported by KAGIDER (Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey) and TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council. The council aspires for these female entrepreneurs by providing them resources, training and networking opportunities.
Increasing Presence of Turkish women in Leadership Roles
Turkish women present themselves in leadership and executive roles. The women in Turkey are taking on positions of power and influence with the support of gender diversity.
Success Stories of Turkish Women in Careers
Dr. Gözde İşbilen: Pioneer in Technology Innovation
Dr. Gözde İşbilen is one of the Turkish women who holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science. Her research experience significantly contributed in making AI smarter and effective, which improved the technology in healthcare and finance,
Güler Sabancı: Leading Businesswoman
Güler Sabancı, a Turkish Woman who has contributed to Turkey’s business world. She is serving the Chair of Sabancı Holding, which is one of Turkey’s biggest companies.Her achievements motivates other Turkish women to reach top positions in business. Therefore the stories of successful women like Güler Sabancı prove that Turkish women have a lot of talent and potential.
Social Behavior of Turkish Women:
Turkish women have made significant key roles for societal development in various platforms ,NGOs, arts and culture. Here we are highlighting each of these:
Social Activism:
Turkish women are running social movements that advocate gender equality, women rights and social justice. Now, the Turkish Women’s Union and the Women’s Platform for Equality mainly address social issues such as domestic violence and discrimination in the workplace to improve the norms of Turkish society.
Community Building:
Turkish women play key roles in building communities by launching local charities and NGOs to help the poor and needy ones.
Media and Public Discourse:
Many Turkish women work as journalists, writers and contribute as media personalities. In this way, these media personalities mainly address issues of human rights and social justice.
Arts and Culture:
Turkish women are now recognized nationally and internationally as these women are influenced in the arts, films, music and visual arts. We have a Nobel prize winner Turkish Women whose name is Orhan Pamuk , who is a prominent author that has guided talented Turkish women in arts.
Conclusion:
In summary, Turkish women have been seen to contribute in every aspect of life such as caregiving to their families, participating in workforces, in family bonding and maintaining strong connections with extended relatives. Now, Turkish women seek support from their husband in terms of shared responsibilities. The career opportunities have diversified for women in Turkey in the fields of science, technology and healthcare. As Turkish society has shifted, therefore Turkish women are seen in the fields of politics and serving as business women. Moreover, these women are running local charity institutes and NGOs to address social issues of domestic violence and gender inequality.
