Browsing by Author "Caner, A."

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4

Embargo
Attainment and gender equality in higher education: evidence from a large-scale expansion
(University of Chicago Press, 2024-09-01) Caner, A.; Derebasoglu, M.; Ökten, Çağla
We examine the causal effects of the drastic expansion in Turkish higher education on the attainment disadvantage of women by using the variation in exposure intensity across cohorts and regions. The expansion increased the attainment rates of both genders but did not significantly reduce the gender gap after controlling for time trend. Studying the mechanisms, we observe that the expansion in social sciences, more than half of additional slots, benefited men and women evenly, but the expansion in engineering, about 25% of additional slots, benefited men more. The results are robust to a wide range of checks for alternative specifications, samples, and policies.
Open Access
Gender roles and the education gender gap in Turkey
(Springer, 2016) Caner, A.; Guven, C.; Okten, C.; Sakalli, S. O.
Using nationally representative data on individual subjective views on gender roles, we examine the gender gap in educational achievement in Turkey and show that the cultural bias against the education of girls is a fundamental factor behind their low educational attainment in socially conservative societies. The 1997 education reform in Turkey extended compulsory schooling from 5 to 8 years. Using the reform as a natural experiment, we investigate the impact of the reform on the effects of mothers’ traditional views in determining children’s educational attainment. We find that the reform helped reduce school dropout rates across the country. Nevertheless, regardless of the mother’s view on gender roles, the reductions in school dropout rates were similar for boys and girls, failing to eliminate the gender gap against girls. Turkey is an excellent environment to study the effects of societal gender roles since it combines modernity with traditionalism and displays a wide spectrum of views on gender roles. It is also one of the few developing countries where a gender gap to the detriment of females still exists in educational achievement. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. All Right Reserved.
Open Access
Higher education in turkey: subsidizing the rich or the poor?
(Pergamon Press, 2013) Caner, A.; Okten, C.
We investigate how the benefits of publicly financed higher education in Turkey are distributed among students with different socioeconomic backgrounds. We use a dataset from a nationally representative sample of university entrance exam takers together with data on government subsidies to public universities. We compare the characteristics of students who succeed in the exam to those who do not and those who enter public universities to those who go to private ones. Our econometric analyses based on a three-stage selection model reveal that students from wealthier and more educated families are more likely to be successful at university entrance. Unlike the findings in other countries, students who enroll in private universities come from higher income and more educated families. Among those who enter public universities, students from higher income and better educated families are more likely to go to universities that receive larger subsidies from the government.
Open Access
Risk and career choice: evidence from Turkey
(Pergamon Press, 2010) Caner, A.; Okten, C.
In this paper, we examine the college major choice decision in a risk and return framework using university entrance exam data from Turkey. Specifically we focus on the choice between majors with low income risk such as education and health and others with riskier income streams. We use a unique dataset that allows us to control for the choice set of students and parental attitudes towards risk. Our results show that father's income, self-employment status and social security status are important factors influencing an individual in choosing a riskier career such as business over a less risky one such as education or health. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.