Perceptions of male scholars toward gender: reconsidering sustainable patriarchy in Turkish academia

Abstract

There is an increasing number of works on the gendered nature of Turkish academia. However, most of the research is focused on experiences of female academics. There is a gap in the literature on perceptions of male researchers. This article aims to fill the void in the literature by examining perceptions of male scholars based on interviews with 80 male scholars. Research questions of the study are (1) what is the perception of male scholars toward gender in/equality at workplace?; and (2) how do they interpret the academic promotion and the managerial positions? The main contribution of the study is that in the Turkish case different inequalities feed into each other and the conservative political climate seems have an impact as well. This article aims to contribute to the masculinities literature through analyzing the main characteristics of sustainable patriarchy and exploring the gendered order of academia in a Muslim-majority society.