Religion and the State in Turkish Universities by Fatma Nevra Seggie

Author:Fatma Nevra Seggie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2010-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Negotiating the Policy

Part-time unveilers formulated the ways in which they negotiated the policy around four subthemes. These were consideration of other options, reasons for compliance, reaction of others to their decision of unveiling, and reasons for the type of unveiling they had chosen.

Options

Many part-time unveilers explained that the first stage of the negotiation with the policy was to consider their options. A majority of part-time unveilers expressed their initial desire to continue their education abroad, but for various reasons they could not do so. A couple of part-time unveilers stated that they initially decided not to go to university as an option, but changed their mind due to parental pressure. In addition, some part-time unveilers did not consider any other options but to comply with the policy and go to university.

The first thing that comes to your mind is to leave: Seventeen part-time unveilers stated that they first considered the option of continuing their education abroad. They mentioned that going abroad was initially a logical thing to do since Turkish higher education policymakers did not want them:

If higher education policymakers do not want you, why should you stay? Of course, the first thing that comes to your mind is to leave. My reaction in those days was that if I were not wanted, then I would leave and not come back. I would not work here. I would not serve here. This is why I started looking at other options such as America, Russia, and Austria.

(Sevtap)

Five part-time unveilers could not go abroad because their parents could not afford it. They looked for scholarships, but could not find any either: “I wanted to continue my education abroad, but I knew it was very expensive. My parents could never afford it. I looked for a scholarship, but could not find one” (Semra). For four part-time unveilers, going abroad was not possible because their parents, especially their father, did not give them permission to go. Two part-time unveilers stayed in Turkey when they realized that for some professions (i.e., those that require licensing), including their professions-to-be, studying abroad precluded them from practicing in Turkey. Two part-time unveilers went ahead and applied to universities abroad, but could not enter the programs they wanted. Two other part-time unveilers had permission to go abroad with the finances in place, but decided against it later on because they realized they were going to go through a lot of adaptation problems. They did not want to be on their own either. There were two other part-time unveilers, returning students, who went abroad, but came back, for personal reasons, without completing their studies:

I went abroad after I stopped going to university in Turkey due to the headscarf ban policy. I quickly realized that it was not a good decision. First of all, it was very expensive. I felt very lonely and I was scared. Even though I was able to attend university with my headscarf on, I returned home. I could no longer stay in a strange country, where I had no family or friends.

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