THE TRANSFORMATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN TURKEY BETWEEN 2002-2018: AN ANALYSIS OF POLITICS AND POLICIES OF HIGHER EDUCATION A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY ONUR KALKAN IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY SEPTEMBER 2019 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Yaşar Kondakçı Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Prof. Dr. Ayşe Saktanber Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Erdoğan Yıldırım Supervisor Examining Committee Members Assist. Prof. Dr. Barış Mücen (METU, SOC) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Erdoğan Yıldırım (METU, SOC) Assoc. Prof. Dr. İlker Aytürk (Bilkent Üni., ADM) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : ONUR KALKAN Signature : iii ABSTRACT THE TRANSFORMATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN TURKEY BETWEEN 2002-2018: AN ANALYSIS OF POLICIES AND POLITICS OF HIGHER EDUCATION KALKAN, Onur M.S., Department of Sociology Supervisor : Assoc. Prof. Dr. Erdoğan Yıldırım September 2019, 191 pages This thesis studies the concept of “transformation of higher education” and tries to assess the changes taking place in Turkey’s higher education in the period of 2002-2018 with respect to politics and policies using such concept. First, it makes a framing of the arguments and concepts revolving around the transformation of higher education as a spatially-temporally manifold worldwide experience which consolidated after the midst of the 20th century. Since the study uses a grounded theory approach, there is no total theory of the phenomenon of the transformation of higher education rather than some eclectic outline of the theoretical lines and concepts relating to it. Second, the study works on the conditions that appears in Turkey’s context which were on the foreground during the transformation. Some global and national conditions are presented with special attention to the historical background and political environment of Turkey between 2002-2018. Lastly, by a rigorous analysis of all the policies of higher education and all parliamentary discussions on higher education in the period of 2002-2018, the conducts and trajectories relating to the transformation of higher education in Turkey have been depicted iv empirically. Overall, this study claims that some set of crucial changes took place in the higher education of Turkey after the early 2000s. In line with that, some theoretical and conceptual arguments on the national and global issue of the transformation of higher education have been acquired to be summarized in the conclusion chapter. The arguments revolve around Turkey’s accelerating articulation to global ground of market-led tendencies in higher education by a certain neoliberal rationality. Such rationality shows itself with respect to various aspects of the transformation such as massification, quantification, administrative changes, and economic development-oriented arrangements of the structure, human labor, and productive activities relating to higher education. Keywords: University, Turkish Politics, Neoliberalism, Knowledge, Grounded Theory v ÖZ YÜKSEKÖĞRETİMİN DÖNÜŞÜMÜ BAĞLAMINDA TÜRKİYE’DE 2002-2018 DÖNEMİ YÜKSEKÖĞRETİM SİYASET VE POLİTİKALARININ BİR ANALİZİ KALKAN, Onur Yüksek Lisans, Sosyoloji Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi : Yar. Doç. Dr. Erdoğan Yıldırım Eylül 2019, 191 sayfa Bu tez özellikle 20. yüzyılın ortalarında kuvvetlenmeye başlayan “yükseköğretimin dönüşümü” fenomeninin, kavramsal anlamda üzerine eğilerek 2002-2018 yılları arasında Türkiye yükseköğretiminde yaşanan değişimleri bu bağlamda anlamaya çalışır. İlk olarak, çok katmanlı ve tarihsel-mekansal olarak farklı şekillerde ortaya çıkmış olan bu fenomene dair argüman ve konseptlerin bir çerçevesini çizer. Tez, gömülü kuram (grounded theory) adı verilen bir metodolojik yaklaşım benimser. Bu bağlamda, yükseköğretimin dönüşümü fenomenini açıklayan tekil bir teoriyle çalışmayıp kavramı açıklamaya aday olmuş bir takım teorik yaklaşım ve ikincil kavramların eklektik bir taslağını sunar. İkinci olarak, 2002-2018 döneminde bu dönüşümün yaşanması sırasında Türkiye bağlamında göz önünde bulunan bir takım önemli koşulları anlamaya çalışır. Uluslararası ve ulusal bazı koşullar sunulurken özellikle Türkiye’de yükseköğretimin yakın tarihsel arkaplanına ve 2002-2018 yılları arasındaki politik ortama dikkat çeker. Üçüncü ve asıl olarak, 2002-2018 yılları arasında gerçekleşmiş bütün yükseköğretim politikaları ve Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi bazındaki tüm tartışmaları titiz bir şekilde tarayarak, Türkiye’de yükseköğretimine dair tutum, yönelimleri, ve onu şekillendiren olguları resmeden empirik bir analiz sunar. Bu vi çalışma genel olarak, 2000’lerin başından itibaren Türkiye yükseköğretiminin dokusunda önemli değişiklikler olduğu tezini ortaya koyar. Bununla bağlantılı olarak, eldeki empirik veri ve değerlendirmeleri kullanarak, küresel ve ulusal anlamda yükseköğretimin dönüşümü olgusuna dair elde ettiği bazı teorik ve kavramsal sonuçları sunar. Bulgular genel olarak Türkiye’nin bir tür neoliberal yorumsama ile market yönelimli bir yükseköğretim zeminine hızlanan bir şekilde eklemlendiği gözlemi üzerinde yoğunlaşır. Bu yorumsama kendisini özellikle bir ekonomik liberalizm zemininde kitleselleşme, nicelleşme, bir takım idari düzenlemeler, ve yükseköğretimle ilişkili yapı, işgücü, ve üretici aktivitelerin ekonomik kalkınma yönelimli bir yeniden düzenlenmesinde kendini gösterir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Üniversite, Dönüşüm, Türkiye Siyaseti, Neoliberalizm, Bilgi, Gömülü Kuram vii İlm kesbiyle pâye-i rif’at Arzû-yı muhâl imiş ancak Aşk imiş her ne var âlemde İlm bir kıyl ü kâl imiş ancak Fuzûlî For all the beings burning by the jouissance of the love of whatever they perpetrate viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank, Destek ve güvenlerini hiçbir zaman esirgememiş olan, sevgilerini her an yanımda taşıdığım başta annem ve babam olmak üzere abim ve kardeşim dâhil aileme, varlıkları ile mutluluk veren yeğenlerim ve yengeme; To Erdoğan Yıldırım, who has not only been a mentor since my first struggles with endeavors of knowledge, but also a good person, a good friend, and a good teacher who can give voice to various lessons no less by his stance than by his words; To Barış Mücen for his sincere guidance and friendship on all occasions, and all the fun that comes with the package; To İlker Aytürk, and Alev Çınar, for their helpfulness and valuable comments; To a handful of good friends, especially those who were kind enough to tolerate me as a person and partake in all the good, bad and weird of this life, for they have been partners for the authenticity and banality of our age, by living the habits but also exceeding them; To Mahir Kalaylıoğlu, and Íris Björg Kristjánsdóttir, particularly for their support and friendship, To Elbakyan, and people like her, for the beauty of their pinkies, And, most of all, to Nihan Karagül with whom I have shared most, materially and spiritually, by getting a taste and a share of her enthusiasm against the entropy; for she was always here for me, and always will be. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM ................................................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iv ÖZ ...................................................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................... x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................... xiv CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 1. 1. The Focus and Problematique of the Thesis ........................................................... 1 1. 2. Significance of the Thesis ....................................................................................... 3 1. 3. Methodology ........................................................................................................... 6 1. 3. 1. Data Sources .................................................................................................... 8 1. 3. 3. Limitations .................................................................................................... 11 2. THE TRANSFORMATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION ........................................... 14 2. 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................... 14 2. 2. The Concept of Transformation ............................................................................ 15 2. 3. Literature Lines for the Transformation of Higher Education .............................. 16 2. 3. 1.