Our graduate student Bushra Feroza Türk, advised by our Sociology Department Faculty Member Dr. Diane Marie Pranzo, presented her paper titled "Subliminal Marginalization of Hijabi Teachers in Private Schools: The Case of Turkey" at the "Education in Muslim Societies: Women's Participation in Scholarship and Politics, Pedagogy and Development" in Rabat, Morocco on November 29th.
Co-organized by the International Institute of Islamic Thought and the African Youth Center for Sustainable Development, the event aimed to examine the broad scope of educational research on women and women scholars in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, in all its forms, and its impact on educational systems and practices in global societies, particularly Muslim societies and the Muslim Diaspora.
By foregrounding women's voices in the Muslim geography, the symposium aims to encourage, produce and disseminate groundbreaking research on the role of education in Muslim societies and communities aiming for individual and social transformation.
In her paper, Bushra Türk focused on the religious discrimination experienced by hijabi teachers in the private education sector in Turkey and argued that despite policy changes regarding the headscarf in the last 20 years, the problems of religious marginalization persist in the socio-religious and cultural context of Turkey.
In her talk, Türk argued that elitist groups and thus the private education sector, where the historical, social and cultural influence of these groups is evident, have changed their approach. According to Türk, the elitist group with marginalizing ideologies in the past has now transformed into a new elitist group that refrains from discriminating against female teachers on the basis of their religious beliefs and instead prioritizes educational qualifications.
For her research, in which she argues that there is a strong link between these two elitist groups, Türk conducted in-depth interviews with school administrators, teachers, parents and administrative staff, analyzed staff photos and school mission statements, and her impressive presentation earned her the opportunity to be published in the Journal of Education in Muslim Societies (JEMS).
We share our sincere congratulations to her and wish her continued success.
