Yükseköğretim ve Bilim Dergisi

Öz

Following the Higher Education Council’s reforms in 2008 to increase the capacity and scope of universities, many new universities, also
known as provincial universities, were established in different cities across Türkiye. Although this reform movement has been criticized for being a political act that empowers political power, given strong patriarchal social structure in Türkiye, it is also possible to see it as
an important step towards gender equality. The aim of this study was to examine the perceptions and experiences of prospective teachers
studying at a state university in Central Anatolia about provincial universities in the context of gender. Phenomenological design, one of
the qualitative research methods, was used. The participants of the study were 73 pre-service teachers studying at a provincial university
in Central Anatolia. Qualitative data were collected through student essays, open online discussion sessions and individual interviews and
content analysis was applied. The findings of the study showed that proximity to their hometown and exam scores were influential factors
in students’ university choice. However, for those who felt obliged in their university choice, economic concerns and family pressure
were influential factors. Pre-service teachers indicated that provincial universities were redundant because of low education quality, and
their contribution in graduate inflation and high unemployment rates. Although pre-service teachers viewed provincial universities as
ideal institutions that had the potential to transform the patriarchal structure, it was also observed that their experiences at the provincial
university were not in accordance with this picture. Pre-service teachers stated that there was no gender equality perspective in the
university they were students of. Female pre-service teachers stated that they were forced into silence, muted and witnessed gender-based
discrimination at the provincial university. The pre-service teachers also mentioned the gender-based pressure mechanisms in the Turkish
social structure, appearing as patriarchal pressures and economic difficulties, that pushed female students to study in the fields they
wouldn’t prefer The study shows that female students sometimes have to prefer nearby cities because they are close to their hometown and
inexpensive, yet sometimes with an aim to get rid of family pressure they feel obliged to choose the departments they do not actually want.