I am often asked about Iran and the lives of Iranian women, especially why they are overeducated when compared to Iranian men. Seems to me that what surprises people (mostly in the West) about women’s situation in Iran, is not because the facts are so fabulous or astonishing per se; it is more because they contradict the Oriental imagination. I don’t think higher rates of women’s involvement in higher education is an issue that is limited to Iran, or even to the MENA region. Although the situation is similar in Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, this is a trend that is witnessed in developed countries as well. Iran is thus hardly an exception.
Women’s higher education in Iran has especially been used as an example and a sign of women breaking free from a patriarchal regime or culture. Jumping on the emancipation/repression train is usually the most common way the gendered issue in Iran is discussed. So, surely women are trying to get education to emancipate themselves and the state does not allow this to happen by limiting their access to higher education? Right? While this discussion can be made to some extent, the big picture is much more complicated. Truth is, in the specific case of Iran, repression/emancipation is not the only possible way of discussing women’s interest in higher education, where many other apparent factors are affecting the outcomes.
To understand why this higher education trend is happening in Iran specifically, you need to look at many contextual factors such as the history of education in Iran, the labor market, the changing aspects of the society, the gender politics, etc. I present some of these points here, but I do not claim to address all of the possible influential factors.
Education as cultural capital
Higher education has also gradually become a sort of cultural capital in Iran for women even for those who do not desire to work. Education is a goal per se, even when it does not open an immediate pathway to the job market or does not affect one’s marriageability (another important aspect of accumulating cultural capital). Going to university – especially if it is in another city and requires moving away from parents – is seen as a way to gain some personal freedom and to live under less supervised and more relaxed conditions among the middle- and upper-class youth.
The economy and the nature of the labor market
In the labor market, men are more likely to find jobs than women without tertiary education. Many jobs in manufacturing, engineering, energy, utilities, transportation, and construction sectors still predominantly employ men without necessarily requiring university degrees. These sectors are known to have a higher gender imbalance and sometimes function with the classic apprenticeship model. There are no official prohibitions for women to take part in these masculinized sectors. It is mostly due to societal limitations that women are not employed in these jobs. Sexism and gender bias are thus important hindering social factors, but the public opinion is gradually changing.
The demographic changes
Iran experienced very high fertility rates during the 1980s. The population growth had an impact on the future of educational institutions. The peak in the growth of higher education institutions in Iran has happened when the children born during the 1980s reached the age when they needed tertiary education. The growth in higher education institutions has thus been an adaptation to demographic needs. This great population growth affected not only the education, but other sectors as well, as this generation aged. You might wonder whether a demographic trend would justify the gender difference.
In the case of Iran, it has led to competition for existing resources, and jobs and education were some of these. Especially for women, who faced gender biases and had access to fewer resources than men, higher education has been one way (to compensate for their gender, if you will) by bettering themselves to be more attractive in the job market. Many women were/are encouraged to do so by families and networks. In fact, women’s education at all levels has grown gradually after the Islamic Revolution.
State youth policies
Some argue that keeping young women occupied and out of the public sphere is one of the functions of the grand higher education system in Iran. But this cannot be discussed only in the case of women’s access to public space, but even more so when it comes to young men. The advocates of this discussion argue that the state has used universities as safety valves and control institutions to keep the young people busy and away from dissent in conditions of economic difficulty and lack of enough jobs and entertainment facilities for everyone. This cannot be entirely the case, considering that some of the most important political and social movements in Iran after the revolution have started in major universities. While the state uses measures to control dissident student groups, it also invests greatly in its free and public higher education system and values scientific advancements regardless of gender.
Gender and family
Different fragments of the Iranian state do not equally subscribe to a family model in which men have the legal responsibility to provide for women, and women are encouraged to bear children. During the past four decades, the attitudes towards gender issues have also changed based on the attitudes of the elected governments. Despite the diversity of opinions, there are conservative forces that promote the traditional family model, especially since the fertility rates are decreasing. It is true that legally speaking, gender inequality is a reality. Unequal gendered roles are reflected in different laws including marriage and family union, labor, and financial affairs.
These laws, coupled with the existing social expectations of men to provide and of women to fulfill their traditional roles, effectively pressure both men and women to comply. But in reality, many people do not live by these rules. Women’s situation is far from black and white – emancipated/oppressed – stories. Many women in Iran desire independence and reject these prescribed roles, hence the dropping fertility. Many women successfully reconcile the supposedly contradictory discourses of family, work, and economy, and are financially independent, while maintaining the socially expected roles in the family as well.
Compulsory military service for men
Additionally, there is another issue that affects men’s pursuit of higher education in Iran that needs to be added to the discussion: the compulsory military service for men. This service is compulsory for men, for a duration of 21 months, and has to be fulfilled after men reach the age of nineteen. There are of course medical, social, and political conditions that lead to exemptions, but otherwise, the service is universal for all men. There is a temporary layoff period for men who are studying, but all men will have to do the service as soon as their period of study is finished, or their education is interrupted. For many young men, the compulsory military service is an interruption to their higher education, and a delay in achieving their personal goals. If they cannot secure entry to higher education in a timely manner, they end up doing military service which is difficult to combine with any other educational or work activities.
Published by Ladan Rahbari
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