The impact of university dissemination on youth unemployment in Turkey

The issue of unemployment, that requires urgent solution recommendations, is one of the most important structural economic problems either in developed or in developing countries. Besides deeply affecting all segments of society; the highest unemployment rate in the world is observed among young people in the labour force in the global context and the rate of youth unemployment is tend to rise. As owing one of the highest youth population in the world, Turkey has experienced a stunning dissemination of universities in recent years. At the beginning of the 2000s, within the frame of the policy so-called "establishment of at least one state university in each province" number of new universities has been established, the placements of the existing ones have been increased enormously. During this period, the unemployment rate among youth graduates has risen gradually while the number of graduate students from the higher education institutions accelerated. Rising level of education which could not contribute to increasing the wages and decreasing the risk of unemployment among youth population has caused to investigate the efficiency of expenditures on education and the higher education system in Turkey. The only possible way for Turkey to reach the desired place in the world economy is employing the young people that are endowed with high human capital. In this study, dissemination of universities and issue of youth unemployment is regarded by various aspects. In this context, in the first chapter of the study, terminology and theoretical framework with regard to unemployment is presented. In the second chapter, functions of education and dissemination of universities in Turkey is discussed. In the third chapter, issue of youth unemployment in Turkey is analysed by education level and other demographic indicators with the Selected Countries in a comparative way. Conclusion part is devoted to policy recommendations that are thought to be effective in tackling with youth unemployment espeacially by rising the efficieny of education. Keywords: Turkey, Unemployment, Youth Unemployment, University Dissemination, Higher Education.