Iran Universities Restrict Options For Women

BY THE WORLD ⋅ SEPTEMBER 26, 2012 

Iranian woman warned over attire. (Photo: Amir Farshad Ebrahimi/Flickr)

A recent decision by several Iranian universities is drawing criticism from international human rights groups. The universities are barring women from 76 fields of undergraduate studies, including math and chemistry.

Haleh Esfandiari is from Iran and heads the Middle-East program of the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington. She speaks with anchor Marco Werman about the possible consequences of this decision.

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Marco Werman: Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke before the United Nations General Assembly today. He called for a New World Order. One not dominated by Western Powers, that have in his words entrusted themselves to the devil. One issue that Ahmadinejad did not raise is women’s education. Iran has come under fire recently because of new restrictions on what female students can study there. Thirty-six Iranian Universities have banned women from a range of subjects in their under graduate programs. The subjects include chemistry, engineering, mathematics, accounting and education. Haleh Esfandiari, directs the Middle East Program Woodrow International Center for Scholars in Washington. She’s written about this decision by Iranian Universities for the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Haleh Esfandiari this decision apparently was not taken upon by Iran’s Ministry of Higher Education. So it wasn’t a policy change at the National level, its individual universities that are doing this. Why?

Esfandiari: I believe that it was the decision taken by the government, by the ministry of science research and technology. But since they didn’t want to come out as being the master mind behind this decision they instructed the universities that they had a free hand in barring women from as many field of studies as they wish. Some universities went along other universities didn’t go along.

Werman: What do you think is the premise behind this decision that there are some fields of study and some professions are not really geared toward women?

Esfandiari: No. I think it has two main reasons. One is that, there are more educated women than men in the country, and this has created a lot of concern among conservative leadership, and in the clerical community. Because they see that these educated women refuse to marry less educated men. So this is one concern. The second concern is that they believe, and this is that more women will have access to employment than men, and being an Islamic country the man should be the bread winner in the family. So these conservative communities think that the women are taking away jobs from men. Which is not the case because, only 12% of women who finish higher education, have access to employment.

Werman: Let’s talk for a moment about how Iran successfully closed the gender gap on the educational system in the first place. They’ve got the highest ratio in the world according to the UN of female to male students right now. Was there a period when male students were the majority, and what policies where created that specifically encouraged women to go to a university?

Esfandiari: Look one of the articles of the Iranian Constitution specifies equal access to education for all citizens. The main change that took place in Iran during Islamic Republic was that women were free to apply to any college, any university around the country and the families allowed their daughters to travel to go and you know study in a different city. Just to give you an total example I used for a regular taxi driver when I visited Iraq on one of my trips, he said he would be gone for three days, and I said where. He said my daughter got accept at the branch of the Free University in the city of ??, and I’m taking her there; she and three other girls are sharing an apartment together. I couldn’t believe my ears. You know he come from a middle class background, he’s a taxi driver.

Werman: Well, I was going to say that’s a really telling antidote for an ordinary citizen would want their daughter educated. I would imagine you are pretty concerned about a change now, a reversal in the trend of this gender dynamic in education and professional settings.

Esfandiari: But on the other hand Iranian women would put up with it. I believe that they would find the right field of studies in their district or home town, or maybe even in the state they live. Then they will compliment that with studying or so on the internet. Almost every family has access to the internet. So they will compensate the lack of access to practical education with an online education.

Werman: Haleh Esfandiari is the director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. Thanks so much for your time.

Haleh Esfandiari: Thank you.

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Read More
• Esfandiari Blog: Why Is Iran Curtailing Female Education?
• The Telegraph: Anger as Iran bans women from universities
• Interview with Esfandiari on The World in 2009
• Wilson Center