Project August 12, 2019

Turkey: Women in IT

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The Computer Engineering Department of Bahcesehir University in Istanbul. Image by Shirin Alhroob. Turkey, 2019.
The Computer Engineering Department of Bahcesehir University in Istanbul. Image by Shirin Alhroob. Turkey, 2019.

According to a 2016 White House report, computer science-related fields will account for more than half of all jobs in STEM professions by 2020. At the same time, women continue to make a name for themselves in the tech industry and the broader fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM. However, the percentage of women in the computer field has been declining since the 1980s. The National Science Foundation found that in 1985, more than 35 percent of computer science majors were women. By 2014, that number fell to 18 percent. This decline may be due to the disconnect between the computer science industry and the message girls receive about their ability to succeed in tech organizations. 

Alhroob examines Turkish women in programming technology, how programming skills can improve their likelihood of employability and allow them to work remotely, the number of women working in IT programming, the obstacles they face, and pay discrepancies.

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