Attitudes towards Gender Equality

Abstract

Migration and integration debates in society and politics are focusing more and more on the issues of gender inequality in both origin societies and migrant communities (Ayers 2007; Crul, Schneider and Lelie 2013; Fekete 2006; Ghorashi 2010; Prins and Saharso 2008; Roggeband and Verloo 2007). Academia has shown increasing interest as well, in particular, in the role of Islam in shaping gender equality attitudes (Alexander and Welzel 2011; Crul, Schneider and Lelie 2013; Diehl et al. 2009; Huschek, De Valk and Liefbroer 2011; Norris and Inglehart 2012; Read 2003; Röder 2014; Scheible and Fleischmann 2013; Teney 2009). This growing literature, however, focuses on differences in support for gender equality between natives and migrants in destination societies, asking whether migrants have assimilated to destination country norms. It ignores how these attitudes are perpetuated from the origin society or how migration influences the reproduction of gender equality attitudes within the household or family. Yet the family as a site for social reproductions is particularly important in migrant communities, given the family-oriented cultures of many origin societies, including Turkey (Nauck 1989; Schönpflug 2001; Schwartz 1992; Spierings 2014).