Unemployment in Iran has decreased slightly in 2019. According to numbers from Persian year
1397 (March 2018 - March 2019), unemployment sits at 12% of the population, compared to
11.9% the previous year. Male unemployment in ages 15-29 was 21.2% of the population
(compared to 20.8 in the previous Persian year) while female unemployment was 38.6% of the
population (compared to 40.4% the previous Persian year).19
C. Right to Education
The Constitution of the Islamic Republic (Article 30 and Note 7 of Article 43) requires the
government to provide free education to everyone and to use science and technology to enhance
the capabilities of individuals.20 None of the relevant articles have explicitly excluded any part of
society, whether on the basis of gender, religion, race or ethnicity.
In a decree prepared and approved by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution21 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."22
In higher education regulations in Iran, academic specializations are classified by gender. For
this reason, there are some specializations in which women are not allowed to study/enroll. For
example, some engineering majors are dedicated only to men and some are dedicated to only
women. Reports from 2014 show how Iranian women were excluded from major such as
Biosystem Mechanical Engineering and even Islamic Theology majors.23 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 available academic
specializations at the time.24 Despite the lifting of these policies in 1993, they were reintroduced
in 2012 with women being excluded from 77 academic specializations in 36 universities.25
Majors that are known to have been banned for women include computer science, industrial
19
Statistics Center of Iran https://www.amar.org.ir/Portals/1/releases/lfs/LFS_1397.pdf
https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/ir/ir001en.pdf
21
A body of the government based in Qoms, in charge of ensuring that education and culture in Iran follow Islamic guidelines.
22
https://sccr.ir/pro/1950/%D9%85%D8%B5%D9%88%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%B3%D9%86%D8%AF%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B4%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85%DB%8C
23
Etemad Newspaper, ‘University Gender Quotas Less Aggressive,’ 9 August 2014, https://bit.ly/316XR9H
24
Fathi, M., ‘Becoming a woman doctor in Iran: The formation of classed and gendered selves’, Gender and Education30, 1,
2018, pp.59-73.
25
Mehr News Agency, ‘Hazf paziresh-e-dokhtaran az 77 reshthe 36 daneshgah/ mohanedsi rekorddar-e-hazf [Women Eliminated
From 77 Fields in 36 Universities/Engineering Fields Hold Record for Elimination of Women],’ 6 August 2012,
https://bit.ly/2YfDM44.
20
4