Iran: Women Unemployment, Still High

I am checking the report for last year, Spring 2010 to Winter 2011, the statistics on women are very interesting.

• The unemployment among women still is much higher than unemployment among men: %20.5 versus %11.9 overall, %39.7 for women age 15 to 29 years versus %21.8 for men of the same age group. 
• The increase in unemployment for women is also higher than the increase in unemployment for men. Women age 15 to 29 years experience %8.7 increase in unemployment from the previous year, for men age 15 to 29 years old this has been %2.1. This means a proportionally larger number of women are unemployed. This confirms previous findings (Abbasi and Dadpay among others) that youth and women are the most vulnerable group in Iran's labor market. They usually feel the burden of economic downturns first. 
• Still close to one out of every three women work in agriculture, %28 versus %17.5 for men. Still almost half work in services, %47.6 of women and %48.8 of men.

Question is what should be the focus to combat women unemployment? Employment opportunities equality might be the first place to start. The disproportional unemployment among women might be hinting at a still segregated labor market.

Of course these are only the descriptive analysis and some very basic intuitions. More can be found out through modeling and further analysis.  

Provincial Offices in Iran and Women

The expanding service sector, growing number of private contractors and an increasing female college graduate population have increased both female workers participation rate and female employment in Iran. This has introduced a new phenomenon to provincial offices of government agencies and ministries: female engineers and representatives of consulting firms and contractors.
Wrapped in traditions and old understandings of one’s roles and duties the local administrators vacillate between denial and acceptance. A recent example is that of Transportation Ministry Provincial Office in Kerman. They simply banned female representatives of their contractors and consulting firms from entering the building. Reported by Tabnak website currently this office only answers men and letters delivered by men.
Reading the related article your correspondent was amazed to read the comments of other readers. While some were outraged and severely critical of such decision, some were actually supportive of such a decision. These were divided mainly into two groups.
First group included those who believed since there are unemployed men in the country; women should not have been employed in the first place. One even said: “If we had logic in our decisions in this country, jobs would have gone to men first and then unfilled positions to women.” This argument does not rest on productivity and the benefits of a competitive labor market.
The second group constituted of those who simply said women get through the official system in Iran, because they are attractive. This absurd generalization of the fact of matter is denying the abilities and skills of hundreds of women in Iran who work hard and efficiently and get through the system because of their persistence.
Reading these arguments one has no choice but to point out that the absence of economic analysis of the realities of labor market has given rise to popular misconceptions and beliefs of female labor force, unemployment and the causes of unemployment. Men are not unemployed because some women are employed and women are not more efficient because they are attractive! In the void created by these misconceptions it is not difficult for some local administrators go as far as banning women from entering their building!
The complexities of Iran’s society and its culture and the different agendas of its so many localities make development such an elaborate matter. Coming to such cases one has to notice that there are some provincial communities who advocate such policies. Iranian women battle for economic self-sufficiency and equal employment rights has been a long one, but it is far from over. One way to assist them is to remind such communities of the facts of the matter and the realities of one’s incentives in a labor market.

Iran Parliament and Women in Higher Education

Iran’s Parliament (Majlis) Research Center recently has completed a study of women in Iran's higher education. According to this report currently Iranian women constitute 65% of student population in Iran’s higher education. This is a two fold increase compared to 32% in 1983, the base year in the study. Iranian female high school graduates share of participants in the nationwide universities’ entrance exam also has increased to 65% from 42% in 1983.

This also means male students form about 35% of Iran’s higher education, and their share of participants in nationwide universities’ entrance exam has fallen from 68% to 35%, less than half of this rate in 1983. These observations indeed signal a significant shift in Iran’s higher education structure and high school graduates willingness to pursue a college degree. So many hypotheses come to mind that can furnish a lifetime of scholarship.

First it seems Iranian men are no longer eager to receive a college degree. This is an enormous shift in society’s cultural beliefs. In a society where diplomas used to say so much about one’s qualities, Iranian men decision to forfeit a college degree could be the first sign that today many consider and evaluate the opportunity cost of higher education first and foremost. Given the high unemployment rate and particularly the high unemployment rate among college graduates, this seems a rational decision. Going to college does not appeal to an Iranian man, if it does not guarantee a job.

Second it seems Iranian women demand for higher education has been increasing steadily. This phenomenon offers a paradox. If men finds it more expensive to pursue higher education how come women demand it even more. There are a number of answers that come to mind and each demands investigation. These hypotheses range from: finding a better match as a husband to finding better jobs or gaining freedom or achieving social prestige and respect. Many suggest these as answers without offering any economic model or hypothesis testing.

One also might suggest declining fertility rate, increasing marriage average age and increasing divorce rate as contributing factors. To this one must add the existing volatility in many households across country that requires husbands and wives to seek employment. Still there has been no model quantifying these factors’ contribution to this phenomenon.

Reading Salehi-Isfahani’s recent writings on education system in Iran some intriguing ideas would come to mind. Among them the question of skill development in an economy where higher education is somehow disconnected from economy and there is no market signaling needs and market demand does not affect resource allocation in higher education sector.

Since many believe that higher education in Iran is not focused on skill development, then recent observations could also mean that Iranian men have found some other venues to develop their skills and they might be paying to receive necessary education somewhere else. For example no one knows what the gender mix is in Microsoft Certificate programs in Iran, usually held by private institutes that are not considered part of higher education and can charge students hefty tuitions by the promise of higher employability.

The other obvious question is that if the increase in women enrollment means women will develop more skills than men and would be able to be more productive. Given the high unemployment rate of college graduates the answer does not seem to be positive. Then why women are more eager to pursue a college degree?

Unfortunately it seems the report is silent about these. Instead it focuses on a longtime concern of traditional social groups and conservatives in Iran. It asks if these developments would alter the balance between Iranian women and men! It also questions the productivity of the budget allocated to higher education because of these changes. It recommends a gender based admission policy in schools with 30% to 40% of the capacity allocated to male students, 30% to 40% to female students and the rest to be decided competitively.

Female Cab Drivers in Iran

see CNN clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmuLA-78Foc

The report as usual emphasizes the fact that Iran forbids any physical contact between opposite genders in public. However I would like to point out empowering women does not happen without jobs. This will be a thriving market for hundreds of women and will help them to have their own voice, their own income and their cherished independence.

Have you heard of female cab drivers in Saudi where government's official policy is much harsher than Iran in such matters? I have not. I also never heard of female cab drivers in any other Middle Eastern Arab countries, where traditions do not appreciate women working outside their homes.

The question is if this is a step forward. I believe it is. Although one wonders that rationing gas might not allow this service to grow as fast as it should otherwise. Any observer of Iran’s affairs wonders the irony of such policies and projects. After revolution Islamizing school system & colleges persuaded many traditional families to send their daughters to colleges and to let them live in other cities. Iran today has the largest female college student population in the region whose share of total population is more than 50%. These students became the women who demand equal rights and equal opportunities today.

May be a western observer finds female cab driver for female passenger not that interesting. It is interesting and interestingly productive. What would happen if women could have representatives in ministry of transportation or cab drivers’ unions? What would happen if women could have more jobs and show the traditionalists that they are better drivers and better mechanics than men? Think of it, and please tell me if you still think it is a bad idea.

Another link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR2cF5RsC38&mode=related&search=