Why Don’t Highly Skilled Women Want to Return? Turkey’s Brain Drain from a Gender Perspective

Elveren, Adem Yavuz and Toksöz, Gülay (2017): Why Don’t Highly Skilled Women Want to Return? Turkey’s Brain Drain from a Gender Perspective.

Abstract

This study examines the gender dimension of the brain drain in Turkey to argue that gender inequality in sending countries can be a push factor for women. Considering how the political, social and cultural atmosphere damages gender equality in Turkey due to a shift toward a conservative, authoritarian regime over the last decade, the paper uses an online survey to analyze the gender gap in the return intentions of Turkish professionals and students living abroad. The findings clearly reveal a gender gap in return intentions regardless of other main factors such as age, study field/occupation or marital status. The study also highlights the significant correlation between the gender gap in migration decisions and gender inequality in Turkey’s labor market.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Brain drain, gender, skilled workers, students, migration
• Subjects: F - International Economics > F2 - International Factor Movements and International Business > F22 - International Migration; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J16 - Economics of Gender ; Non-labor Discrimination; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J6 - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers > J61 - Geographic Labor Mobility ; Immigrant Workers

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