Education of women and women's expectations from distance education on the issues concerning them

Abstract

The most important factor that enables women to become individuals in society is education. It is also a very crucial part of rectifying the circumstances they are in. Besides formal, mass and distance education institutions, there are some other mechanisms to support women's individuality, their personal development and improve gender equality. Basically, these social mechanisms can be governmental, academicals and union based or they can be non-governmental organizations. All these organizations offer women significant contributions in many aspects including awareness, use and protection of women rights. They also have important roles in informing women of decisions that are made against or in favor of them, letting them have a say in these decisions, fighting against violence, becoming strong individuals that have equal rights with men and having no difficulty in using these rights and lastly in education of women on these subjects. However, women need to know these mechanisms well and be aware of the laws and regulations in order to benefit from these mechanisms and use the opportunities that are legally granted for them. The aim of this study is first to detect whether women are aware of women's governmental and non-governmental organizations and laws, and if not, to determine the mode of delivery and educational media that they prefer and the amount of time they would allocate. To fulfill this aim, 600 women who are 18 or above and living in Eskişehir were randomly picked as the sample. They were given a 34-item questionnaire in face-to-face interviews. It was found that majority of the sample were not aware of the mechanisms and laws about women and they wish to receive education on these subjects. And they think that distance education is the best form to receive this education. At the end of the study, it was concluded that women should be informed about the future studies that will be carried out by related institutions and organizations, and furthermore, projects should be prepared and distance education programs should be designed.