Beyond Education: Structural and Cultural Constraints on Female Labor Force Participation in Türkiye, Spain, and Poland

Abstract

Despite significant gains in women's educational attainment, their labor market participation remains limited—a phenomenon conceptualized in the social policy literature as the "human capital paradox." This study examines why highly educated women remain outside employment, focusing on marital status, care economy, and cultural norms, through a comparative analysis of Türkiye, Spain, and Poland. Findings indicate that in Türkiye, marriage and childbearing constitute a decisive turning point for female labor market withdrawal; in Spain, educational polarization emerges, with highly educated mothers maintaining employment while low-educated mothers experience sharper participation losses; and in Poland, welfare regime and tax-care policies generate an "all-or-nothing" pattern of female labor market involvement. The research highlights the need for the public institutionalization of care responsibilities, the transformation of cultural norms, and the development of gender-sensitive, green economy–oriented sectoral strategies; however, its reliance on secondary data limits the ability to fully capture the psychological and cultural dimensions of intra-household decision-making.