Metro Istanbul, one of the subsidiaries of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM), brings together the Istanbulites with the "Equality is Here" photography exhibition, which features 62 employees through the lens of General Manager Özgür Soy.
Operating in rail systems, which is a male-dominated sector all over the world, Turkey's largest urban rail system operator Metro Istanbul has been carrying out a change and transformation movement since 2019 with the aim of equal and fair representation of women in every stage of social life.
Aiming to ensure the participation of men in the efforts to achieve the goal of realizing gender equality, Metro Istanbul brings together the Istanbulites with the "Equality is Here" photography exhibition, which consists of photographs of male and female employees. The exhibition, which consists of 62 squares with the participation of 27 personnel, including female employees who broke new grounds in Metro Istanbul and their teammates with whom they work shoulder to shoulder, can be visited at Mecidiyeköy station until the end of April, through the lens of General Manager Özgür Soy.
General Manager Özgür Soy, who went behind the camera for the second time this year by supporting gender equality, said, “Just as the widespread use of subway in a city is an indicator of development, the high rate of women's participation in business life is one of the most important values that show the level of development of a country. We know that reaching an economically and socially healthy society is only possible if men and women walk together. In this context, we inspire the society with the change and transformation movement that we started based on Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's saying, 'The society that leaves women behind is doomed to be left behind'.
“WE ARE COMMITTED TO GRANTING EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES TO WOMEN IN CAREER STEP”
We are committed to providing women with equal opportunities on the career ladder. Since 2019, the rate of female employees in Metro Istanbul has increased from 8 percent to 11 percent. Of course, we do not find this ratio sufficient. Our goal is to increase our female employee rate to 25 percent in the short term, and then to equalize it. We still have a long way to go, but for example, while the rate of women working in technical and operational jobs in public transportation in European Union countries is below 10 percent, 17,97 percent of the engineers in Metro Istanbul are women. When we look at the recruitments we have made in the past 2 years, we see that more than 50 percent of them are women. E.g; For the first time in our 33-year company history, female station supervisors took office. While the rate of women applying to our advertisements was 2019 percent in 7, this rate increased to 2021 percent in 24.
“METRO INSPIRES WOMEN”
Stating that the number of female train drivers, which was 2019 in 8, increased to 2022 by 143, Özgür Soy said, “2 percent of the train drivers hired in the last 67,83 years have been women. In addition, women have been very successful by entering all business areas that were previously viewed with prejudice and were said that women cannot. In this process, women were promoted more, more women began to take charge in chief and manager positions, in our senior management. 2020 percent of the women working in our company since 12,46 have been promoted. All promotions and recruitments in our company are based on expertise and merit, we believe that no job has a gender, but you can be an expert. Today, subway women working in different positions inspire all women.”
“WE MADE A DIFFERENCE AGAINST GENDER STATUS JURISDICTIONS”
Emphasizing that companies need to broaden their horizons in order for women to be equal not only on paper but also in minds, Özgür Soy said, “This year, we resolutely made a difference in the face of gender stereotypes and brought our male and female employees together in the squares we call 'Equality is Here'. This exhibition is actually a reflection of the perspectives of Metro Istanbul employees, who work shoulder to shoulder together 365 days a year, to each other in the photographic frames. We received volunteer applications from all levels of our company to take part in the shoot. This is an indication that we have started the transformation on gender equality within the company. We believe that women and men can only be liberated from their restrictive social roles when they stand side by side. With this belief, we will continue our work with the aim of leaving a happy and successful world to the next generations, where no social role or perception will prevent equality. I would like to thank all my colleagues who bravely posed for the lens to adopt this approach and be a part of it.”
| Position | Female | Male | Total | Female Ratio |
| Number of Employees of Metro Istanbul | 313 | 2574 | 2887 | Percent 11 |
| Station Supervisor | 13 | 247 | 260 | Percent 5,00 |
| Office Staff | 79 | 214 | 293 | Percent 26,96 |
| Train Driver | 143 | 655 | 798 | Percent 17,92 |
| Engineer | 55 | 251 | 306 | Percent 17,97 |
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