Women and Higher Education in Iran: Negotiating Modernities and Traditions

Goli M. Rezai-Rashti The University of Western Ontario December 2011 Women and Higher Education in Iran: Negotiating Modernities and Traditions

Objectives Examine patterns and trends in women’s access to higher education across 3 periods: • The highly ideological 1980s • Liberalization and reform, 1990-2005 • Ahmedinejad era of neofundamentalism 2005-present

Research Questions • How have the advances in women’s higher education attainment affected their access to paid employment? • How has higher education attainment affected the “marriage market”, and gender relations?

1980-1989: Women & the Ideological State • Pahlavi-era Family Protection Act (1967/1973) abrogated. • Ban on women judges • Islamic Cultural Revolution: closures; purges; revised curricula • Islamization of education: sex segregation, compulsory veiling for women; women barred from some fields of study • Decline of female labor force participation and share of labor force • “Many jobs were declared unsuitable for women, and some laws that previously protected women’s rights were annulled. Also, family planning programs as well as most nurseries and kindergartens were shut down, and the appropriateness of women’s place within the family was advocated.” (Alaedini and Razavi, 2005: 59)

1990-2005: Liberalization and Reform • Removal of quotas for women in higher education • Rafsanjani “called on the female population to strive to take their 50 percent share in the country’s educational programmes and institutions”(Tehran Times, Sept. 24, 1991, p. 1). • Emergence of independent feminists, women-led NGOs, and dynamic feminist press • Reform movement exemplified by presidency of Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005) • Women begin to catch up with, and then overtake, men in higher education enrollments; feminization of some disciplines.

Table 1. Number and percent of applicants to university admission exams, 1983-2001, by sex Source: K. Haghighi & N. Akbari, Pezhohesh Zanan, 3(1) (2004): 81.

Table 2: Number and Percent of Women Admitted to Universities By Field of Study, 1991-2002 Source: S. Kazemipour, Investigation and Discussion of Women’s Increased Participation in Higher Education, Tehran: Ministry of Science, Research & Technology (2004): 34. (in Persian)

The Ahmadinejad Era • A neofundamentalist approach to women’s issues, including government concerns over women’s higher enrollments in university. • Repression of women’s rights activism • Controversial bills on “family protection”: enhancing men’s privileges in marriage and extramarital relations • Enhancement of the nuclear sector (implications for gendered employment)

Field Research • Field work at five universities (4 universities in Tehran, 1 in Isfahan) • Qualitative research: 51 interviews with male & female students and 11 professors (3 males and 8 females) • Examination of government documents and secondary sources • Question: How have advances in women’s higher education attainment affected their access to paid employment and their labor force share? The interview data offer insights into the difficulties that women face seeking appropriate employment: • Networks and family connections • Religious environment • Barriers to management and promotion • Mehrieh as a defense mechanism

Voices of Educated Women “You can only find jobs in related areas of specialization if you have an important connection, especially in the governmental organizations. Most graduates of humanities and social sciences, for example, are not working in their fields. They find jobs in banks and other institutions.” “[In my university] there are all sorts of people, some are very religious and some are ‘normal like me’. When I complete my degree and find that I cannot obtain a position in my preferred university [less religious, our emphasis], I will open my own counselling agency and counsel people who are like me and those who respect me.” “They were opposing my promotion just because I am a single woman. It was very interesting for me because I was thinking I may never want to get married, then what? Later, they brought up my hejab as an excuse. Promotion in the government organization is difficult for women. They put too many barriers in front of you that you will think the promotion will create more problems for you. In such case, you would rather stay in the same position quietly and do your work. However, I think women who are working are more creative and organized and they relate to people a lot better than men.”

Gender Relations & Educated Women (Mehrieh) “My family wanted a very high mehrieh. For example, my brother’s wife had a dowry of 714 gold coins. My brother was asking a higher mehrieh for me and his argument was that his own wife who is a high school graduate was given 714 gold coins, while his sister (me) with a doctorate should ask for at least 2000 gold coins. I had to intervene and tell them I don’t want to have a high mehrieh and we settled for 750 gold coins.” “...I am a strong believer of mehrieh for women. Mehrieh should not be seen in the traditional sense. In this country women cannot negotiate their civil and legal rights through legal means. I was married for five years and found out that I could not live with my husband any longer. We discussed divorce but he said no. My Mehrieh was 1370 sekeh azadi. I threatened that I would litigate for my mehrieh. This was the only way that I could secure my divorce. I am absolutely sure that because of this high mehrieh he agreed to divorce.” “My family wanted a very high mehrieh. For example, my brother’s wife had a Mehrien of 714 gold coins. My brother was asking a higher mehrieh for me and his argument was that his own wife who is a high school graduate was given 714 gold coins, while his sister (me) with a doctorate should ask for at least 2000 gold coins. I had to intervene and tell them I don’t want to have a high mehrieh and we settled for 750 gold coins.”

Gender Relations & Educated Women (cont’d) “I think there is no difference between women and men. I experienced this myself. When I came to university, I was staying away from interacting with men at first but gradually because I was a very good student during my Bachelor degree, my confidence was improved and this affected my relationships. Now, I don’t see any difference between men and women and I can become friends with them and feel comfortable and equal.”

Gender Relations & Educated Women (cont’d) “While I was studying towards my Bachelor degree I had many proposals for marriage. After entering Master’s degree the number of proposals decreased and by the time I entered Ph.D program, it became non-existent.”

Gender Relations & Educated Women (cont’d) • “I wanted my husband to be accepted in the Ph.D. program. He wanted it too. We both liked it …..One of my conditions for the marriage was for him to get accepted. I wanted my husband to be at the same level of education.”

Gender Relations & Educated Women (cont’d) “The more education I had, the more worried I was getting. First of all, there would be fewer cases of men who would propose to me. Many men might even be afraid to approach. I think men have trouble to be involved with someone who has higher education than them. It rarely happens.”

Table 3: Employment and Unemployment by Education and Sex, in Percent (1977-2004) Source: S. Kazemipour, Employment Problems of Educated Women in Iran. Tehran: Research Centre for Cultural and Social Studies (2005) : 18.

Table 4: Share of Women in Academic Positions at Three Universities, 1991-2001 Source: F. Gaeini, Evaluation of women’s status in higher education in the last decade, 1992-1993 & 2002-2003. Tehran: Public Relations Publisher for Women’s Cultural and Social Organization (2006): 194

Table 5: Number and Percent of Men and Women Employed Full-time or Part-time at State Universities Source: Institute of Research and Planning of Higher Education. Tehran: 2008, p. 124.

Table 6: Number and Percent Full-Time Female Faculty Members by Sector and Rank, 2003-2004 Source: Higher education in Iran: A National Report 2003. Ministry of Sciences, Research & Technology: Institute for Research & Planning in Higher Education, p. 75. Note: Total female share is 14.7%; highest in category “educators” and “others” (24-27%)

Table 7: Number of Female Graduates by Sector and Study Levels in 2003-2004 Source: Higher Education in Iran: A National Report 2003. Ministry of Science, Research & Technology: Institute for Research & Planning in Higher Education, p.74. Note: Female share of total is 46.5%. At master’s and Ph.D. level it is 24-27%; professional doctorate, 41.6%.

Table 8: Women in Higher Education, MENA

Table 9: Female labor force participation and unemployment, MENA

Conclusions (1) • Women have made considerable progress in access to higher education, but their participation in the labor market has remained stagnant (and there are data inconsistencies). • Unemployment rates of educated women are higher than those of educated men (e.g., 2004: 19% F/7.4% M). • Unemployment as a function of structural and socio-demographic factors: low economic growth, investments in capital-intensive sectors, rural-urban migration, “youth bulge”.

Conclusions (2) • Continued barriers to women’s under-representation in paid employment: gender bias; resource allocations to capital-intensive/male-intensive sectors (oil, gas, nuclear power) • The practice of mehrieh has not been dying out with modernization and the expansion of higher education, but actually expanding, while the amounts have been increasing. Our interview data suggest that it is a defense mechanism in the absence of gender equality and meaningful employment opportunities for women. • Needed: further research into the education-employment-marriage market intersections, and more attention to the socio-political implications of Iran’s “baby boom” generation.

Women and Higher Education in Iran: Negotiating Modernities and Traditions