The sociological context of rapid universitization

We described the distance covered in a very short time in Turkey's university expansion as "excessive speed." This speed placed it first among all the countries of the world in this field within an unexpectedly short period. If not the country with the most universities, Turkey is at least the country with the most university students relative to its population.

This situation can be read officially as showing that Turkey has taken a swift and well-placed position in a world where the service sector is gradually becoming more central than agriculture and industry.

The key to being ambitious in the service sector is greatly developing and diversifying university teaching. That is, the university is realized not with a single type of education but as a diversified multiversity, shaped by different universities and different demands for services and education. Society is extremely dynamic, the world is changing and developing rapidly and becoming more interconnected. Faced with different technologies, different lifestyles and social developments, the university does not remain merely a total archive of knowledge and reason, but shows reflexes as a mechanism that also produces the necessary answers and measures. It does not stand like a metaphysical constant that never changes in the face of social change. Even if it secures a certain stance on metaphysical constants, it keeps alive a faculty that will develop itself in line with the course of the world.

Today in Turkey there is also a higher education administration with an approach that responds to the demands forcing the transformation of the university into a multiversity, with its shortcomings, its successes and its performance. Meanwhile the universities themselves have diversified enormously internally.

Of course, the increase in the number of students relative to the population in Turkey can also be explained, from another angle, by the fact that its young population is still larger than that of more developed countries. But even when the young populations of the countries in question were at the same levels, the proportion of university students was never at this level. Because the service sector had not yet gained that much weight among the other sectors. Today, however, there is great pressure from the world to train more white-collar staff. There is also a need for people of student age to meet this. Turkey is still in a position to supply this population.

But there is a handicap: university expansion also has a very serious effect on the sociological fabric. The way of life changes, the age of marriage rises considerably. So much so that, in its advanced stages, this process markedly reduces the share of the young population in the general population and puts the country into the cycle that Western countries have fallen into today: In the West today the number of universities, rather than increasing, is falling still further. For this reason the reality of universities now being locked up has begun to make the agenda in both the US and Europe. Because there are not enough students; the average age of the population is rising, and the young population of an age to study is declining.

Somewhat more farsighted universities keep their wheels turning with foreign students. But for this, the whole social structure must accept foreign students and be foreigner-friendly. In parallel with the university expansion in Turkey, there has also been a very serious increase in the number of foreign students. It deserves a separate assessment. This increase makes very serious contributions in terms of integrating Turkey's universities with the world, or connecting Turkey's culture, economy and politics with the world. The number of foreign students has already passed 300 thousand. Targets have been set for this number to reach first 500 thousand and later 1 million.

All of YÖK's preparations are in this direction, but preparation should not be limited to increasing the number of seats at universities. Unfortunately, we have a problem of xenophobia, which has recently emerged in a way utterly incompatible with these targets. An extremely shallow, stupid, ignorant approach is on the rise that sees foreign students studying at our universities as a burden on the country's economy or on the country in general. This is in fact complete sabotage against Turkey's goals of growth, strengthening and being influential in the world. What is not stupid can only be explained by treason.

YÖK also needs to study, in coordination with other institutions, for example the interior ministry, the migration administration, the justice ministry, human rights organizations, the tourism ministry and the communications directorate, a social cohesion problem in line with this goal, and to consider improving the conditions. A foreign student whom you have persuaded with a thousand efforts to study in Turkey must not be exposed to the discriminatory, suspicious, indigestion-stricken looks of officials or classmates at the very entrance to the country, in the passport queue, on the street, in the dormitory where they stay, in the market where they shop.

We described the process experienced in university expansion as "excessive speed." Excessive speed always draws attention more for the risks and complications it may cause than for its positive side. It is not possible that the university expansion in Turkey, experienced at excessive speed and leaving all the countries of the world behind in a short time, has no complications. We are already living through them all together. I do not find any of the comments and criticisms that came to my last piece unjustified.

The high rate of university expansion has come at the cost of sacrificing the intermediate staff. Moreover, the distribution among professions does not match market demands very well. This leads to the formation of a highly educated mass that cannot work in any other job, and that is quite clear. However, a process that will find its balance over time is also continuing to work on the other side.

Thanks to the excessive speed experienced in medicine, for example, Turkey today has entered the ranks of the few countries in the world in the field of health services. This is a great gain. It must not be forgotten that the university has an important share in all of Turkey's recent developments in industry, agricultural production, engineering and all other fields. However, we continue to live through, and therefore to dwell on, the social complications caused by this speed.