Abstract:

The purpose of the study is to identify the key factors that have led females to higher education and the research will analyse the social, political, economic and cultural elements which have provided the opportunity for women to get more than 65% of the places in Iranian universities in a deeply unequal society. The rationale for a focus on women enrolled in higher education is that education is considered a key social development indicator measuring women’s status and condition in any country. The number of females in higher education in Iran began to rise from 1998 onwards.

Tertiary education is seen by many commentators as providing greater opportunities for women in economic and social development. Education is one of the most significant ways of empowering women with the knowledge and skills in order to play a great role in the process of economic and social developments in the society. Many believe educated women who have worked hard, to overtake men will be the ones to bring about social and political change in developing countries such as Iran.

Through my research two questions will be discussed, the first challenge is to find out why women are so educated in Iran and what is the employment rate after graduation, according to government statistics only %16 of female graduated get employed, then the second question will be what is happening to those educated women who are out of employment. Analyzing this paradox will be considered as a relation between female education and development discourse and if women will be the most powerful social forces to change the future of Iran?.

This paper is largely based on the documentary research method and also on interviews conducted with Iranian students and female activists both in and outside Iran.

Keywords:

Gender, Education, Development.