© International Journal of Human Sciences ISSN: 1303-5134 www.insanbilimleri.com www.insanbilimleri.com www.insanbilimleri.com www.insanbilimleri.com/en /en /en /en Tarih: 1. 11. 2004 Tarih: 1. 11. 2004 Tarih: 1. 11. 2004 Tarih: 1. 11. 2004 EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUNDS OF CONTEMPORARY TURKISH ELITES Assistant Professor (Yrd. Doç.) Dr. D. Ali ARSLAN (*) Assistant Professor (Yrd. Doç.) Dr. Gülten Eren GÜMÜŞTEKİN (**) ABSTRACT Elite studies have great importance within sociological and political studies, because elites are the main agents of social change (Arslan, 2003). On the other hand, education is one of the most important social indicators in the contemporary world. As a result of the rapid transformation from capital based society to knowledge based society, education has become more important than ever before, in determining success. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to analyse the educational background of the contemporary Turkish elite, including political elites, labour union elites and media elites. Educational levels, education and school types and foreign language ability will be investigated in the study. The multi-method approach was used. The “positional” approach was used for identifying the elites who have a potential for power because of their status and social position within society; the “reputational” approach was used to select those respondents who have a reputation for power and influence. Findings show that the level of education experienced has a significant importance in the recruitment process of contemporary Turkish society. Holding at least one university degree has (*) Sosyologist and Political Scientist. Lecturer at GOP University in TURKEY. Sosyolog ve siyaset bilimci. İngiltere’de “University of Surrey” de, Sosyal bilimler metodolojisi alanında yüksek lisans (MSc.) ve yine aynı üniversitede, siyaset sosyolojisi alanında doktora (PhD) yaptı. 6 yıl yurt dışında, sosyolojinin değişik alanlarında çalışmalarda bulundu. Halen, Gaziosmanpaşa Üniversitesi, Eğitim Fakültesi’nde dekan yardımcısı, orta öğretim sosyal alanlar eğitimi bölüm başkanı ve öğretim üyesi olarak görev yapmaktadır. Gaziosmanpaşa Üniversitesi, Eğitim Fakültesi, 60100-TOKAT/ TURKEY GSM: 0532 270 81 45, İş Tel: (+90 356) 252 16 16/ 34 44, 34 19, Faks: (+90 356) 212 17 48 E-posta: arslandali@gop.edu.tr, cimderaslan@hotmail.com (**)Lecturer at Dumlupınar University in TURKEY