Table Of ContentWomen, Islam, and Education
in Iran
Drawing on the complexities and nuances in women’s education in relation
to the aftermath of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, this edited collection
examines implications of religious-based policies on gender relations as
well as the unanticipated outcomes of increasing participation of women
in education. With a focus on the impact of the Islamic Republic’s
Islamicization endeavor on Iranian society, specifically gender relations
and education, this volume offers insight into the paradox of increasing
educational opportunities despite discriminatory laws and restrictions
that have been imposed on women.
Goli M. Rezai-Rashti is Professor of Education and Women’s Studies at
the University of Western Ontario, Canada.
Golnar Mehran is Professor of Education at Alzahra University, Iran.
Shirin Abdmolaei is a Ph.D. student in Education at the University of
Western Ontario, Canada
Routledge Critical Studies in Gender
and Sexuality in Education
Series Editors
Wayne Martino, Emma Renold, Goli Rezai-Rashti,
Jessica Ringrose and Nelson Rodriguez
Queering Families, Schooling Publics
Keywords
Anne M. Harris, Stacy Holman Jones, Sandra L. Faulkner,
and Eloise D. Brook
Boys, Masculinities and Reading
Gender Identity and Literacy as Social Practice
Laura Scholes
Young Bisexual Women’s Experiences in Secondary Schools
Mary-Anne McAllum
Hidden Sexualities of South African Teachers
Black Male Educators and Same-Sex Desire
Thabo Msibi
Black Men Teaching in Urban Schools
Reassessing Masculinity
Ed Brockenbrough
Learning to Live in Boys’ Schools
Art-Led Understandings of Masculinities
Donal O’Donoghue
Starting with Gender in International Higher Education Research
Conceptual Debates and Methodological Considerations
Edited by Emily F. Henderson and Z Nicolazzo
Women, Islam, and Education in Iran
Edited by Goli M. Rezai-Rashti, Golnar Mehran,
and Shirin Abdmolaei
For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com
Women, Islam, and
Education in Iran
Edited by Goli M. Rezai-Rashti,
Golnar Mehran, and Shirin Abdmolaei
First published 2019
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 Taylor & Francis
The right of Goli M. Rezai-Rashti, Golnar Mehran, and Shirin
Abdmolaei to be identified as editors of this work has been
asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
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identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-138-23673-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-30175-4 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
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Contents
List of Figures vii
List of Tables viii
Foreword ix
NELLY P. STROMQUIST
1 Introduction 1
GOLI M. REZAI-RASHTI
2 Female Education in the Islamic Republic of Iran:
Understanding the Paradox of Tradition and
Modernity 15
GOLNAR MEHRAN AND FARIBA ADLI
3 The Voices of Female Students in Iranian Universities:
The Unintended Consequences of University Education 35
GOLI M. REZAI-RASHTI AND SOMAYEH FEREIDOUNI
4 Gender Representations in Iranian School Textbooks 51
SAEED PAIVANDI
5 Protecting Men and the State: Gender Segregation
in Iranian Universities 84
NAZANIN SHAHROKNI
6 If Not for the Revolution: How Higher Education
Became an “Islamic Right” for Religious Iranian Women 103
ALEX SHAMS
7 Shi’ite Women’s Seminaries in Iran: Possibilities
and Limitations 122
KEIKO SAKURAI
vi Contents
8 The Education of Iranian Women: A Historical
Investigation of Education and Unveiling
(Kashf e Hijab) 142
FAEGHEH SHIRAZI
List of Contributors 157
Index 160
Figures
4.1 The depiction of men and women in images 57
4.2 The proportion of female illustrations in the images
according to the context 58
4.3 Percentage of famous female figures in textbook images 60
4.4 Presence of women and men in textbook illustrations
by grade level 61
4.5 Gender mixing in images that depict two or more
persons (1,925 images) 62
4.6 Author distribution in Persian language textbooks
based on gender and nationality 67
Tables
4.1 The presence of men, women, and adolescents
in textbook illustrations 58
4.2 The presence of women in images based on textbook
subject 59
4.3 The presence of women in images based on location 59
4.4 Depiction of personality traits (positive) by gender
(at least three times) 64
4.5 The professions found in textbooks by gender 68
Foreword
Edited by three Iranian women—Goli M. Rezai-Rashti, Golnar Meh-
ran, and Shirin Abdmolaei (two professors and an advanced doctoral
student)—this book offers fascinating insights into the educational condi-
tions and experiences of university students and students in primary and
secondary schools in Iran. These insights also extend to understanding
the minds of Iranian researchers working on gender issues in their coun-
try. The authors are scholars living either in Iran or in the diaspora, with
one contribution by a woman of Japanese origin. Given the cultural and
political context in which most of the contributors reside, Women, Islam,
and Education in Iran is a courageous effort to explore religion and state,
with its careful and challenging self-introspection and systematic reliance
on evidence.
Islam is a highly diverse religion, even though it is formally divided
into two main schools: the Sunni, who represent between 80% and 85%
of the world’s Muslims, and the Shia (or Shiiat). Focusing on Iran, the
chapters deal with a Shiiat version of Islam presently operating within a
politico-religious state highly obedient to the precepts established by its
religious leaders. The book’s chapters range from gender representations
in school textbooks to the unintended consequences of the expansion
of higher education for women, and to the surprising effects produced
by two distinct revolutions in the country’s history: a secular and then a
religious one.
The authors depict what is at first sight a successful coexistence of
Islam and modernity, as the regime has greatly enabled women’s access
to higher education and allowed them some control of their bodies via
family planning. At the same time, this coexistence reflects a very con-
venient model of social change for the Iranian leaders, who assert that
their approach is “modern” but not “Western.” It is convenient for them
because they engage in selective borrowing. They adopt technologies
from the West, which are termed “modernity” (e.g., electricity, automo-
biles, cell phones, Internet, atomic energy) while rejecting “Western” cul-
tural norms. But what is potentially an appropriate and sensible blending
in fact assures the dominance of men over women. For Iranian women,
