Understanding the Barriers to Effective Fieldwork in Turkey
Field specialization is important factor for advancing any profession ,but certain factors can make countries less suitable for developing expertise on their specified fields. In this article, I would like to share my opinions on why field specialization is not fully-possible in Turkey. In each paragraph, I will discuss factors that contribute to this condition, supported by examples.
Educational Factor
First of all, having strong foundational institutions is significant for the development of both research and curriculum, especially in higher education. Turkey has not been equipped with strong educational infrastructure for at least 30 years. I will not claim that Turkey has the worst educational opportunities, but it is clear that the system persists in not adapting to updated approaches and methodologies. From this perspective, society has not been discovering advanced or specialized professions in several industries. As a university student, I perceive that university education standards are not able to meet the demands of industry requirements. For example, essential courses are always crucial for individuals’ careers. However, if ordinary field-specific departments, such as those related to computer science, rely too much on personal development, people will not always take classes that align with the industry’s required skill sets because the academic part of this concept needs further research probably every year. Furthermore, students have to develop their skill sets based on their specific professions. For instance, I want to be an offensive and defensive security expert. From that perspective, why do I need to learn every aspect of frontend and backend development with outdated languages ? Instead, I should learn industry-standard frameworks and libraries to pass the interviews. The current academic system traps people in a way that does not allow them to improve their skill sets based on interview or job-specific requirements. One important aspect that increases this issue is that AI-enhanced technologies have made information more easily accessible compared to the pre-AI period. Because of this, do university students still need instructor-based learning, or are we just using universities as a stepping stone to find job opportunities ?
Economic Factor
Rising inflation and high currency rates are pushing students to focus on earning money rather than pursuing academic growth. As an ordinary university student, I observe that specializing in any field requires significant effort and financial resources to become qualified. For instance, a person wanting to pursue security, system administration, or artificial intelligence in Turkey cannot rely solely on academic knowledge. They need to seek out courses, conferences, boot camps, and internships to gain the necessary skills. Moreover, certifications are crucial for fields like cybersecurity, but they come with significant costs. For example, certifications such as CompTIA Security+, Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), and Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP) can range from $300 to $1500 or more. These costs can be prohibitive for many students, especially in a country with high inflation and currency instability. Even an aspiring academician must fulfill specialized field requirements, including obtaining these expensive certifications. These are technology industry-based jobs, but universities should close the gap between academia and industry. Therefore, it is crucial for universities to prioritize field-based education. Having an education solely through computer science cannot meet all the industry’s demands since there are many professions with differing skill requirements. In summary, the financial burden of obtaining necessary certifications and the gap between academic education and industry needs make it challenging for students in Turkey to specialize in their desired fields.
Industry Factor
Increasing number of industries are playing significant role during the AI-period in Turkey. Especially, the software industry living its golden age compared to last two decade. However, while some industries have a observable profession pattern like health, technology, service, logistics, others stay in shadows due to the both market size and development of the specified industry. For instance, Although most people suggest that cyber security industry is constantly growing its market size and development year by year. There has been no clues for that improvement just by researching through the google. Besides, finding a proper profession opportunity on software engineering is obviously easier than security industry because of the lack infrastructure opportunities on security field.
Government Policy
Before Turkey’s recent investment policy in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity was the most in-demand tech industry field. The government invested heavily in cybersecurity until the AI era began. Additionally, innovation support was primarily focused on software engineering, leading to numerous start-up investments, especially in e-commerce projects. This created a perception that success in tech was primarily through e-commerce or other start-up ideas. Over time, those outside the tech industry saw that individuals making significant profits from start-ups, though there were few major projects in fields like cybersecurity or AI. Government policies have significantly impacted Turkey’s industry specialization. For example, they have established various workshops, boot camps, summer camps, and advertisements focused on specific fields. They also offer monetary prizes for some of these events. While this doesn’t mean there should only be AI and cybersecurity projects, there has been a shift in focus over the last 5–6 years towards these areas.
Cultural Factor
Turkish people often have dismissive attitudes towards certain professions and university fields. For instance, while I was studying in the science faculty at Bilkent University, I overheard a physics student telling his father that computer science is not as difficult as physics and questioning why he should learn computer science topics. This attitude is embarrassing and, while such instances might be rare, they do occur. Another memory involves one of my university lecturer suggesting that I should not pursue you cybersecurity because it is boring and not high paid. This reflects a lack of respect for individuals’ goals and job selections compared to foreign perspectives. Despite these attitudes, I did not abandon cybersecurity because I understood the field and its requirements. However, consider someone without previous experience in IT specialization; such negative attitudes could discourage them from pursuing their interests.
