The impact of Higher Education on religious attitudes of University graduated Turkish women in Vienna
The impact of Higher Education on religious attitudes of University graduated Turkish women in Vienna

Author(s): Şule Dursun
Subject(s): Gender Studies, Islam studies, Higher Education , Migration Studies, Sociology of Religion
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Austria; Vienna; Turkish women; higher education; religious attitudes;
Summary/Abstract: The stereotype of the Muslim woman in public discourse is built upon the image of an oppressed and uneducated person. “Allah`s rechtlose Töchter. Muslimische Frauen in Deutschland” (Lawless daughter of Allah. Muslim women in Germany). This headline of an article published in Germany`s news magazine “Der Spiegel” discussed troubled living conditions of Muslim women oppressed by their families (Schießl & Schmidt, 2004). The Muslim woman is also stereotyped in political debates. A woman with black chador was at the center of a poster for anti-minaretinitiative of the Swiss People’s Party (DiePresse, 2009). The conducted research also considered the fundamental fact that many Muslim women in Austria still move within their traditional cultural values. According to the information provided by the Austrian Integration Fund from the year 2010, the increase in Muslim population between the years 2001 and 2009 was due to a much greater extent on a higher birth rate than on immigration (Marik-Lebeck, 2010). Parallel to this mainstream traditional attitude of Muslim women in everyday life one can also notice that the traditional image of women is also deeply rooted in the religious handbooks which are used as an orientation by many Turkish muslims in everyday life.

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