Gender Diversity and Inclusion at Work: Divergent Views from Turkey

The purpose of this book is to investigate gender diversity practices and discourse developed by listed companies in Turkey. It pursues this aim by advancing knowledge about business relations affecting workplace gender diversity. The research builds on Bourdieu’s field approach and implements a Thematic Analysis following Braun and Clarke’s (2006) guidelines. The findings of the book are based on data collected from unstructured interviews and secondary sources such as the official documents of national and international organizations, newspapers, legislation, and web pages of the related parties. The findings suggest that the implementation of gender diversity practices may require a transformation of perspective and the conditions regarding the political, economic, and cultural realm for realization of a pervasive movement. Due to the conservative and patriarchal culture, authoritarian rule and neoliberal policies, gender diversity and inclusion are not seen as issues that should be resolved through the commitment and collaboration of a field. Consequently, diversity management practices are instrumentalized by the business community as a means for corporate communication and image building rather than actively building a diverse workforce.

Zeynep Özsoy built her academic career in Organisation Studies for more than 20 years. She studied business administration at Ankara University and sociology at Middle East Technical University. She is currently the acting dean of Business School at Altınbaş University. The areas she is particularly interested in and has written about include corporate governance practices of Turkish listed companies, boards of directors, diversity management, and alternative organisations.

Mustafa Şenyücel is an assistant professor in Organisation Studies at Haliç University. He studied Computer Engineering, Engineering and Technology Management and Business Administration in Bahcesehir, Bogaziçi and İstanbul Bilgi University respectively. He researched organisational field and institutional pluralism at the field that struggles to eliminate violence against women in Turkey. However, he plans to write about the organisational relations between non-governmental organisations, civil society organisations, labour unions and firms involved in eliminating various other social issues.

Beyza Oba is a professor in Organisation Studies at İstanbul Bilgi University. She studied business administration in Bogaziçi University and İstanbul University. Her main research focus is the hegemonic struggles of employer unions, trust in inter-firm relations, corporate governance practices of Turkish listed companies and alliance strategies in the open-source software community. She has also written on critical management studies in Turkish business schools.