The Gendered Perceptions of the STEM Fields in Turkey: A Sociological Analysis of Environmental Factors

Engineering is a male-dominated profession, culturally defined as masculine and socially perceived as a field most suited to men. Following this general tendency, women are underrepresented in the engineering field in Turkey; however, interestingly, they have relatively higher percentages in this field than in most industrialized countries, including those in Western Europe and the United States (Acar, 1988, 1991, 1994). However, these relatively high percentages can be misleading because women are not equally distributed in engineering fields. As previous studies (Zengin Arslan 2000, 2002, 2010; Pehlivanlı Kadayıfçı 2015) have shown, even when women do enter engineering, they tend to choose fields that are socially considered appropriate for women. We see how engineering fields have been ascribed gender roles and characteristics and consequently conceived as "masculine" or "feminine".

Building on this observation and based on findings of our ongoing comprehensive research on Women in STEM in Turkey (funded by the Turkish Science Institute (TUBITAK, 2024-2026)), the paper investigates the causes of this gendered distribution in engineering departments by focusing on the role of social actors -- such as parents, teachers, male and female professors, and peers -- in shaping, reproducing, and enforcing these perceptions. The paper asks: how do departments acquire a gendered perception, how do these gendered images of departments play a role in female students' career choices, and how do women negotiate the masculine culture of technology and gender discourses of various institutions such as the state, family, and school in their choice of engineering fields? The paper presents findings on how environmental factors - social, cultural, and political - play a significant role in shaping the educational trajectories of female students.