Spatial Analysis of Socio-Cultural Factors Affecting Women's Employment in Türkiye

Abstract

Women's participation in employment is an important issue for both developed and developing countries. Although country-specific dynamics differ, the obstacles to women's participation in employment are quite similar. This study aims to identify the factors influencing women's employment in Türkiye, a dynamic socio-economic context characterized by the partial persistence of a patriarchal family structure, and to reveal how these factors vary across regions. Unlike previous studies on women's employment in the literature, this study used both global and spatial regression analyses. Spatial regression analyses were conducted to overcome the generalized nature of the models produced by global regression analyses. The results showed that the factors influencing women's employment were not effective at the national level and that the effects of the variables varied across regions. The findings of this study suggest that instead of top-down policies derived from generalized analyses, policy development should prioritize local and regional dynamics. © 2025 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.