Unveiled: the Effect of the Headscarf Ban on Women’s Tertiary Education in Turkey

By Zeynep B. Ugur

HIGHLIGHTS

There exists a large gap in the educational attainment of headscarved women compared to that of non-headscarved women in Turkey, even after controlling for background variables.
This paper finds no evidence that the ban on headscarves at tertiary educational institutions, in effect from 1997 to 2013, reduced the tertiary educational attainment of headscarved women, which was already low.
Educational disadvantage for headscarved women begins after primary school.
Although lifting the headscarf ban was a good first step, eliminating the barriers to women’s education will require a much broader perspective.