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Removing Cultural Barriers to Education: State-run Religious Schools and Girls’ Education in Turkiye

Author

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  • Tolga Benzer

    (Turku School of Economics, University of Turku)

Abstract

This paper studies the impact of access to state-run religious schools on girls’ outcomes in T\"urkiye. These schools, offering religious instruction and a conservative school environment, became accessible to girls following a 1976 court ruling. Exploiting variation in exposure to religious schools across district centers and cohorts, I find that access increased secondary school completion among girls—with more pronounced effects observed in conservative areas—while having negligible effects on boys. Treated women later had lower fertility and higher labor force participation. The findings show that removing cultural barriers to education can promote schooling and public life integration for culturally marginalized groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Tolga Benzer, 2025. "Removing Cultural Barriers to Education: State-run Religious Schools and Girls’ Education in Turkiye," Discussion Papers 170, Aboa Centre for Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:tkk:dpaper:dp170
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion

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