A PARADIGM SHIFT IN THE PARTICIPATION OF DISADVANTAGED GROUPS IN DIGITAL GOVERNANCE: IS WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION A GOAL OR A MEANS?

Management science is undergoing a rapid transformation from traditional management approaches to today's and tomorrow's digital governance models. Along with this transformation, groups known as “disadvantaged groups” in society, such as women, people with disabilities, immigrants, children, and ex-convicts, have also increased their participation in public policies. This increase, alongside the development of digital governance, has led to criticism that the participation of disadvantaged groups in public policies has become a means to an end rather than an end in itself. The study examined whether the participation of women, a disadvantaged group whose social impact is increasing and becoming more visible within the digital governance process, in social life and public policy, and their thoughts and actions, are for humanitarian and democratic purposes or as a populist tool. To this end, a literature review was conducted on the concepts of traditional governance, digital governance, paradigm, disadvantaged groups, women as a disadvantaged group, participation in social life, and public policies, and document analysis, one of the qualitative research methods, was used. In this regard, digital governance has played an important role in the formation or direction of public policies concerning disadvantaged groups that are marginalized from society or perceive themselves as marginalized from society. It can be said that initiatives targeting women have increased the visibility of these groups in the digital sphere, but the actual impact of this participation on decision-making processes remains open to debate. It is observed that women's participation in social life and public policies generally remains symbolic, failing to create the desired impact in daily life and decision-making processes. This situation suggests that participation is being used as a populist tool rather than for democratic and humanitarian purposes, raising questions about the extent to which participation is genuine and effective.