Women, Work, and Ideology in the Islamic Republic

Abstract

This paper is a quantitative and qualitative analysis of Islamic ideology and female employment in Iran today. I examine the Islamic regime's ideology regarding women's roles (as well as the inconsistencies within it) and contrast it with women's employment patterns. I also compare the employment patterns today with those before the Revolution. The paper shows that much of the initial rhetoric discouraging female employment and attempting to impose an ideology of domesticity has not been successful. Although labor participation rates have declined for women, they have declined even more for men. The female share of the urban labor force has not altered, and government employment for women is actually higher today than it was before the Revolution. This paper suggests a discrepancy between ideological prescriptions and economic imperatives.