Regional differences in the effects of Turkey’s 1997 compulsory schooling policy

Abstract

In this thesis, we examined how the increased compulsory education from five to eight years, as a result of the 1997 Compulsory Schooling Reform, affected educational outcomes of women and men and rural and urban residents across five regions of Turkey, whether it contributed to the narrowing of the existing gender gap and urban/rural gap and how specific regional characteristics affected the implementation of the reform. We used regression discontinuity design to find the causal impact of the reform on educational outcomes of women and men and rural and urban residents. We utilized Turkish Household Labor Force Surveys dataset in our analyses. We observed the narrowing of the gender gap and the urban/rural gap in middle school completion in all regions except Region 5 (Eastern Anatolia and Southeastern Anatolia) where strong traditional norms are prevalent. In addition, insufficient number of boarding schools and transportation problems especially in rural areas may contribute to the finding regarding Region 5. The gender gap in some regions and the urban/rural gap in all regions in high school completion further widened. Sheepskin effects, which are more important for men and urban residents in Turkey, may be the cause of this result. The policy decreased the gender gap in college completion in all regions except Region 5. Higher ability and motivation level of women treated by the policy might be a possible explanation for the narrowing of the gender gap in college completion.