Hürriyet – Turkey's Women Leaders In the Wings

Turkey is still trailing behind Europe and the USA when it comes to women leaders, reports the Turkish daily Hürriyet. A mere 13.9% of Turkey’s directors are female; and this figure falls to just 7% when women directors related to company owners are excluded. To address this deficit, Egon Zehnder’s Istanbul Office and Sabancı University have teamed up on the Independent Women Directors (IWD) Project, a database of female executive talent in Turkey. At the recent “The Power of Women” conference held in Istanbul, IWD Project Manager Sevda Alkan highlighted its aim of raising the ratio of women directors to 30% in Turkish companies. According to Egon Zehnder’s Murat Yeşildere: “The problem shouldn’t be called a ‘Women’s Issue.’ It is actually an issue of equality and human rights.” In his view, “It is not a matter of supply, but of demand,” that can be addressed via tougher quotas and strong targets.

Full story: Şebnem Turhan & Ahmet Can: “En büyük mağdur grubu kadınlar” (“Women Leaders Waiting to Be Appointed”) in Hürriyet (7 March 2018).