Mehmet Seflek Social Science
The Scarves of Choice: Headscarf Discrimination and Economic Development in Turkey
Legislation banning the Islamic headscarf in Turkish universities has caused a political and social uproar over the last two decades, but the effect of the spillover of politics into women’s private lives has often been overlooked. Mehmet will research the extent of the discrimination against women who wear the Islamic headscarf in the Turkish labor-market and, if it exists, the effect of this discrimination on the career choices of female university graduates. Mehmet will examine the class and religious inequality that discrimination may be creating, how the headscarf affects the Turkish economy, and the effects of this legislation on educational outcomes. For this project, Mehmet will survey university students in Istanbul, and will use created identities to experimentally apply for jobs to test for discrimination.
