Analysis of the Women's Status in the Process of Iran's Socio-political Development in Last Forty Years

Abstract

Women's participation in political and social development is the one of the most important indicators in the process of sustainable development of societies. The present study examines the status of women's participation in the process of socio-political development of Iranian society during the rule of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The main question of the research is what is the status of women's participation in the process of political and social development of Iran? What are the policies adopted in this regard? And what policies should be used to increase women's socio-political participation in Iran? The present study is a qualitative study that has been performed using the secondary analysis technique. The data obtained and collected from the statistical sources including the Ministries, Governmental Organizations and the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran. The results of the present study show that during the rule of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the presence and participation of women at the micro and middle level of decision-making and management has increased, but the participation of women into high organizational levels has faced with social, political and cultural barriers. In the other word, though the number of professional women in society of Iran has increased but their progress in decision-making and policy-making has not been very noticeable. The present study shows that the policy in the field of woman requires more and more efficient employing of women's participation in macro-level management.