Publicação
The causal effect of education on gender role attitudes : evidence from a natural experiment
| Resumo: | This dissertation examines the causal effect of education on gender role attitudes using data from the 2013 and 2018 Turkish Demographic and Health Surveys. To address the potential endogeneity of education, the method of instrumental variables (IV) is employed, using the 1997 education reform in Turkey, which extended compulsory schooling from 5 to 8 years, as a source of exogenous variation. The reform significantly increased educational attainment among women, providing a credible natural experiment. The IV estimates show that, contrary to the positive associations found in ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions, education has no statistically significant effect on gender role attitudes. This result holds across multiple indices capturing views on family decision-making, female employment, political participation, and gender norms. The findings suggest that education alone is not sufficient to transform traditional gender role attitudes, pointing to the importance of broader cultural and institutional dynamics in shaping beliefs about gender roles. |
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| Autores principais: | Mota, Henrique Vicente Sabino Domingues Soares da |
| Assunto: | Education Gender role attitudes Natural experiment Turkey Educação Atitudes sobre os papéis de género Experimento natural Turquia |
| Ano: | 2025 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | dissertação de mestrado |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso aberto |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade Católica Portuguesa |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | Veritati - Repositório Institucional da Universidade Católica Portuguesa |
| Resumo: | This dissertation examines the causal effect of education on gender role attitudes using data from the 2013 and 2018 Turkish Demographic and Health Surveys. To address the potential endogeneity of education, the method of instrumental variables (IV) is employed, using the 1997 education reform in Turkey, which extended compulsory schooling from 5 to 8 years, as a source of exogenous variation. The reform significantly increased educational attainment among women, providing a credible natural experiment. The IV estimates show that, contrary to the positive associations found in ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions, education has no statistically significant effect on gender role attitudes. This result holds across multiple indices capturing views on family decision-making, female employment, political participation, and gender norms. The findings suggest that education alone is not sufficient to transform traditional gender role attitudes, pointing to the importance of broader cultural and institutional dynamics in shaping beliefs about gender roles. |
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