women enrolling in engineering majors in Iran was 355,360, compared to 1,148,044 for males.6
Although recent, readily available and official disaggregated data as to the enrollment of women
in higher education are scarce, the underrepresentation of women in the labour market suggest that
women have still limited access to higher education.7
A. Bans on enrolment
In 1983, gender segregation policies were introduced in the Iranian education system that
implemented quotas and resulted in the exclusion of women from 91 out of the 169 academic
specializations existing at the time.8 Despite the lifting of these policies in 1993, the Government
introduced gender-rationing measures in universities in 2012, resulting again in women being
excluded from 77 academic specializations in 36 universities.9 10 A decree prepared and approved
by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution11 in 2013 on the "Islamization of Universities"
(Strategic Guide for Islamization) to be implemented by all educational entities, called for
"Institutionalizing the culture of chastity and veil (hijab), organizing the public space of
universities and preserving the affairs of the university scientific environment." Under the same
note, (Note 14.6) it mandates all educational institutions to "review and improve the design of
spaces and optimize university services in order to reduce unnecessary mixing of girls and boys."12
The implementation of policies after 2012 correlated with the decrease of women enrollment in
universities.13
In higher education regulations in Iran, a number of academic specializations are classified by
gender and bar women from enrollment. For this reason, there are some specializations in which
women are not allowed to study/enroll. For instance, in 2014 women were excluded from the
Biosystem Mechanical Engineering and Islamic Theology degrees at Shiraz University.
Majors that are known to have been banned for women include computer science, industrial
engineering, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering and material engineering at Arak
University. Additionally, natural resources engineering, forestry and mining engineering at Tehran
university; political science, accounting, business administration, public administration,
mechanical engineering, and civil engineering at Esfahan University and 14 social sciences majors
at Emam Khomeini University.14
6
https://iranopendata.org/en/dataset/universities-higher-education-terms-major-education-gender-durg-years-13671394/resource/a092f0ad-0964-47f8-9d59-55a4c1c2ec77?inner_span=True
7
Minority Rights Group, https://minorityrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/MRG_CFR_Iran_EN_Sept191.pdf
8
Fathi, M., ‘Becoming a woman doctor in Iran: The formation of classed and gendered selves’, Gender and Education30, 1,
2018, pp.59-73.
9
Mehr News Agency, https://bit.ly/2YfDM44
10
Minority Rights Group, https://minorityrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/MRG_CFR_Iran_EN_Sept191.pdf
11
A body of the government based in Qoms, in charge of ensuring that education and culture in Iran follow Islamic guidelines.
12
Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, https://bit.ly/3pTn8kb
13
Minority Rights Group, https://minorityrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/MRG_CFR_Iran_EN_Sept191.pdf
14
Human Rights Watch, https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/09/22/iran-ensure-equal-access-higher-education
2