An Intersectionality Approach to Understanding Turkish Women’s Educational Attainment in Germany Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Mary Kate Gaebel, B.A., M.A. Graduate Program in Education The Ohio State University 2012 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Bryan Warnick, Advisor Dr. Robert Lawson, Co-Advisor Dr. Sebnem Cilesiz Dr. Binaya Subedi Copyright by Mary Kate Gaebel 2012 Abstract This dissertation has two main foci: first, on the experiences of Turkish women in the German educational system, and to what extent state policies, cultural pressures, and personal choice influence their decision to pursue higher education; second, how state policies, cultural artifacts and official documents can elucidate these women’s individual accounts. This dissertation is further framed by the following sub-questions: In what ways do women of Turkish descent employ both ‘Germanness’ and ‘Turkishness’ to successfully navigate the educational system and to resist educational and social marginalization? What tensions arise between these socially-constructed identities? To explore these questions, this dissertation employs both in-depth, semi-structured interviews with women of Turkish descent in Berlin and document and cultural artifact analysis. Chapter 1 offers an overview of the discourse used to construct the Turkish female immigrant stereotype as unwilling and unable to integrate into German society, Chapter 2 is dedicated to using the current literature in the field to frame this discourse in an historical, social, and cultural context. Chapter 3 addresses the use of intersectionality as the methodological tool in this dissertation, the aim of which is to address identity as a dialogue between the individual and larger structures of power and that categories of identity, as processes constructed through power relations, hold both internal and external components. This chapter also highlights the ways in which intersectionality as a methodology informs the methods and frames the ways in which the resulting data is interpreted. Chapter 4 highlights ii the results of the dissertation research in the form of four emerging themes: the use and significance of language; laying claims to belonging; retrospective attitudes towards educational experiences; and gendered cultural identity. These themes, which emerged from the women’s individual interviews, are supported by relevant document and cultural sources. While Chapter 4 offers a cursory interpretation of the four emerging themes, Chapter 5 offers a deeper exploration of the ways in which these themes operate in tension with, and are co- constituted by, the official discourse. It speaks to the voids in the existing literature that were addressed in Chapter 2 and offers an explanation for the ways in which an intersectionality approach to understanding Turkish women’s educational experiences in Germany furthers the research on issues of immigration, educational policy, and gender in an educational context. I end by addressing the study’s limitations, implications for future research, including the ways in which this study can be extended to other German contexts and to international settings. iii Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge the contributions of the five women I interviewed during my research in Berlin. Without their stories, their openness to an outsider, and their willingness to speak about their personal experiences, this dissertation never would have come to fruition. It is because of them that this research has developed and will continue to embrace stories of educational experiences which challenge the dominant narrative. I am eternally grateful to them and will always remember my time in Berlin. I would also like to thank my committee for their unwavering support of my project. Although at times the research felt too overwhelming, my four committee members kept me on track in varying ways. Thank you for allowing to me work through my research despite the frequent frustrations, hurdles, and roadblocks. Along with my committee members, my friends, colleagues, and family have been an abundance of support and guidance and have provided much-needed listening ears. While some have worked to challenge my research with the aim of strengthening my understanding of the work I do, others have simply been there to listen to (and to quiet) my frustrations, worries, and anxieties. My husband, especially, has been a constant reminder of the strength that love and passion for something we believe in can provide. iv Vita 2003..................................................................................................................B.A. Psychology, Saint Mary’s College 2011...................................................................................................................M.A. Education, The Ohio State University 2008-2011....................................................................................Graduate Teaching Associate, The Ohio State University 2011-2012.....................................................................................Graduate Research Associate, The Ohio State University Publications Gaebel, M.K. (2012). The failed project of multiculturalism: The case of Turkish immigrants and/in German education. The Journal of Multiculturalism in Education, 7(1): 1-27. Fields of Study Major Field: Education v Table of Contents Abstract………………………………………………………………………...….ii Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………….…iv Vita………………………………………………………………………………...v List of Figures……………………………………………………………….……ix Chapter 1: Introduction Constructing the Trope of the Turkish Immigrant Woman………......................……1 Inherently Incompatible? Headscarves and/in German Schools………………....6 Turkish Immigrant Women in Germany: What’s Missing?..................................10 Dissertation Overview...................…………………………………………........14 Guiding Considerations.........................................................................................17 Chapter 2: Literature Review The Eternal Other: Turkish Immigrants in Germany.................................................23 “The Turks are Coming”........................................................................................23 Immigration and the Construction of Germanness................................................24 Labor Recruitment and Guest Workers in Germany: A Brief History......24 Integration and the Ausländerproblem.......................................................29 “Duvar Bizim Üstümüze Düștü” – The Wall Fell on Us...........................32 The Shifting of Citizenship: Ius Soli in Germany......................................36 Immigrants and/in the German Education System................................................39 vi Guest Worker Children and Ausländerpädagogik.....................................39 Intercultural Education: A Step Forward?.................................................42 Education in Post-9/11 Germany...............................................................44 The Structure of German Schools: Tracking Educational Inequality...................................................46 The Role of Religion in German Education..................................50 Gendering German Higher Education.......................................................57 Chapter 3: Methodology Intersectionality: Moving Beyond the Cartography of Categories.............................61 Intersectionality: Origin Story...............................................................................64 Intersectionality: Critique......................................................................................68 Intersectionality and Turkish Women in Germany: My Methodology.................71 Location and Participants.......................................................................................79 Research Methods..................................................................................................88 Chapter 4: Results and Interpretations Contestations of the ‘Reluctant Immigrant’..................................................................98 Laying Claims to Belonging..................................................................................99 In and Between Two Worlds?....................................................................99 Integration as Secularization?..................................................................106 An Identity of Places................................................................................109 Kanak as Contestation of Marginalization...............................................114 The Use and Significance of Language...............................................................119 Language as an Intergenerational Link....................................................125 The Politics of Language.........................................................................131 vii (Retrospective) Attitudes Towards Educational Experiences..............................138 Higher Education and ‘Wide-Awakeness’: Lale and Fatma....................144 “You Only Have to Want it”: Yeșim and Ayșe’s Educational Reflections............................................157 Higher Education and the Abitur as Arbiter of Educational Attainment...........................................................165 Gendered Cultural Identity..................................................................................171