Myths and Realities about Women Entrepreneurship: Many CEOs, Few Employers, Small Labor Force Meeting held as part of the GEP - Turkey hosted Minister Fatma Şahin and US Ambassador to Turkey Francis Ricciardone.
ANKARA – Speaking at the meeting on the topic “Women Entrepreneurship: Myths and Realities,” held on Monday, 22 October 2012, Nilgün Arısan Eralp, TEPAV Director of the European Union, related the title of the meeting to the rates of women senior managers and women’s employment in Turkey. She stated that while the rate of women’s employment in Turkey was almost half of that in the European Union (28%), the rate of women CEOs was above the world average and four times that of the EU (12%). She said, “Of course, you are welcome to remind me, in tandem with the theme of this meeting, of the fact that these figures are the ‘myth’ and the problems faced by women entrepreneurs are the ‘reality.’
The meeting, organized within the Global Entrepreneurship Program (GEP), Turkey carried out in collaboration with the TOBB and the US State Department, and was coordinated by TEPAV, hosted Fatma Sahin, Minister of Family and Social Policies, and Francis Ricciardone, the US Ambassador to Turkey. The keynote speaker of the meeting was Professor Candida Brush, the founder of the Entrepreneurship Department of Bobson College.
During her opening speech, Nilgün Arısan Eral talked about the obstacles women face in the labor market and stressed that in spite of the increase in the rural to urban migration, the skills levels of migrant women do not match the needs of industry. Poor childcare services and the prevalent mentality about women’s role in society are other impediments to women’s employment in Turkey. She said “In Turkey, 65% of the women and 61% of the men think that housework and child care are the main duties of women.” Eralp also gave brief information on relevant projects carried out by TEPAV and non-governmental organizations in Turkey.
Ricciardone: “Turkey has not tapped sufficiently its human resources”
Francis Ricciardone, US Ambassador to Turkey, stated that women and girls constituted an important resource that was not being exploited sufficiently. Stressing that realizing projects on this issue was not easy, he cited Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, in Turkish: “Everything we see on the face of the earth is the work of women.” He said he considered this a very enlightened statement. Stressing that Atatürk had seen this years ago and steps had been taken in this direction, he continued:
“Since the foundation of the Republic, Turkey has had a deliberate policy of the state bringing all citizens into full participation in public life. Bringing women’s participation into the economy and enhancing women’s efficiency in their productivity will have a dramatic impact on the competitiveness of all economies that choose this path.”
Fatma Şahin, Minister of Family and Social Policies, stressed that efforts concerning the access to capital and training were of key importance for enhancing women’s participation in the labor force. She said:
“From a holistic approach to the cultural structure, and social and economic texture in Turkey, there is a large burden particularly on women. Even if they are well educated and have sufficient access to capital, women generally have to leave the labor market after marriage due to additional burdens, such as child or elderly care. Therefore, we believe it is of key importance to harmonize the work life and the family life. We know that having a professional career and starting a family are not alternative paths; that if well-planned and facilitated with a strong support mechanism, both can be done successfully. We know a lot of women achieve this. The most important aspect of the work we have been carrying out in this regard is the progress that will be made concerning the support mechanism for childcare and daycare facilities.”
Need of women perspective to the new constitution!
Şahin added: “The civilian constitution on the table should be addressed from the perspective of women. Turkey can achieve the rule of law standards of the modern world from a woman’s point of view if it addresses the entire constitution from the perspective of women rather than talking about women in just one article.”
Following the opening session, Candida Brush delivered the keynote speech on women’s entrepreneurship. The meeting ended after the questions and answers session.
She said the government had been exerting efforts to have more women in decision-making mechanisms in both the private and public sectors, adding that women being more active in all areas would favor the entire society and was important for children’s future, too. She said, “We need to complete the mental transformation of men.”
