According to latest figures, sixty-six of each 100 public servants are male. There are 2.330,909 permanent positions within the Turkish public institutions. Only 1.769,730 of these positions are occupied while the remaining 561,179 seats still wait new employees to be hired. The data shows the government should concentrate on hiring female workers in the first place in a move to maintain balance between the two gender groups. All undersecretaries in Turkish ministries are male. Out of 79 deputy undersecretaries, only 2 are female. Out of 96 director generals in Turkish ministries, 91 are male. All of the 175 governors in Turkey are male. Out of 450 deputy governors, 12 are female. Out of 8,284 high level bureaucrats, 7,713 are male while only 571 seats are taken by female public servants.
Out of 989 district governors, 19 are female. The public services in which the female workers outnumbered males were allied health personnel and legal advisers and lawyers. Of the 108,364 allied health personnel 99,564 are female while 1,576 out of 2,639 legal advisers and lawyers are female. Some 46 percent of all teachers, 40 percent of all academics and 31 percent of all doctors in Turkey are female.
The male domination does not change when it comes to State Economic Enterprises (KİTs). There is not a single female regional manager among the existing 22 while only 3 out of 63 vice general managers are females. Out of 172 heads of departments only 7 are female. Out of 800 vice managers in KİTs 186 are female while 5,275 of 16,445 civil servants, secretaries and cashiers in KİTs are female workers.
 Recent data have revealed a serious shortcoming in equal representation in the public sector. According to the latest figures from the State Personnel Department, only 34 out of every 100 public servants are female. |
Controversial headscarf ban a major factor
Observes argue the current weak representation of females in public services is a clear result of an ongoing controversial headscarf ban, which refuses hiring of women who wear headscarves by public institutions. The controversial ban applies to university students as well as those working in the public sector. Women with headscarves are not allowed to enter military facilities including hospitals and recreation areas belonging to the armed forces as well as facilities owned by some private companies. Even some private businesses refuse to hire covered women, long-standing discrimination in Turkish work life.
The ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) attempts to get rid of the illegal headscarf ban faced resistance by the secularist Republican People’s Party (CHP and the Constitutional Court, which claim that the use of headscarves is political rather than religious.
