Does More Compulsory Education Empower Women? Evidence From Turkey

Abstract

This thesis examines the causal relationship between education and women's empowerment based on the variation in at least secondary school completion rates across birth cohorts caused by the 1997 education reform in Turkey. Using data from the 2013 and 2018 Turkey Demographic and Health Surveys (TDHS), the study evaluates the effects of extending compulsory education from 5 to 8 years on women's empowerment. This study analyzes women’s empowerment using two main dependent variables: the women's empowerment index, constructed using the PCA method, and the attitude toward violence score. The causal impact of education on the two components of the women's empowerment index, namely the attitude toward gender roles component and the socio-economic component, is also examined. A fuzzy regression discontinuity design (RDD), which reliably captures the causal impact of education on women's empowerment, is adopted. The main findings of the study indicate that, as a result of extending compulsory education, a 50% increase in the rate of completing at least secondary school compared to the initial value leads to a 70% improvement in the women's empowerment index and a 19% improvement in attitudes toward violence scores. Similar results were found for the two components of the women's empowerment index. The increase in compulsory education improved the attitudes toward violence component by 66% and the socio-economic component by 80% compared to the initial values. This study highlights the profound and positive effects of education on women's empowerment and attitudes toward domestic violence, underscoring the critical role of education in advancing gender equality.