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TEHRAN (Iran News) –Spokesperson for Iran’s elections headquarters says women constitute 47 of voters in the country’s parliamentary and the Assembly of Experts Elections, while the remaining 53 percent are men.

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This year’s theme is “Women and Girls in Science Leadership, a New Era for Sustainability” and the subtheme is “Think Science … Think Peace”.

In this regard, Iranian female researchers have managed to play a critical role by strengthening their participation in areas related to science and technology, acquiring a special place in the field of scientific authority at the national and international levels.

Women outnumber men in higher education

Statistics indicate women’s participation in higher education has overtaken men’s, holding a greater share of educational fields.

The number of female students and female faculty members has increased significantly experiencing an upward trend in the last 45 years.

The number of female students has increased from 19,027 in the 1970 -71 academic year to 1,510,426 in 2020-21 which signifies female students’ number increased 56 times. However, the average growth of the total student number during the same period has been 50 times.

Women’s participation in higher education can be considered as a criterion for measuring educational justice and a factor for the progress of society, which can lead to balanced development.

In 2001s, the share of women in Iran’s higher education reached more than 50 percent. Consequently, there were more female than male students.

The number of female faculty members in Iran’s higher education has been on the rise, too.  The number of female faculty members has increased 30 times during the last four decades, while during the same period, the number of faculty members increased only 11 times.

Iranian female scholars

According to the recent report of Islamic World Science and Technology Monitoring and Citation (ISC) in the list of one percent of researchers in the world which is based on the Essential Science Indicators  (ESI) database, a total of 135 Iranian female researchers have been recognized in the areas of Agricultural Sciences, Clinical Medicine, Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Neuroscience and Psychology, Engineering, Material Science, Psychiatry/Psychology, Computer Science, Interdisciplinary, Social Science, generalities and some have obtained the necessary points even in several fields.

Moreover, according to the Stanford University List which was conducted by a number of researchers from Stanford University and the Elsevier Institute via analyzing the data of the Scopus database, 60 highly cited Iranian female researchers are among the top two percent in the world (service performance) in eight subject areas including Clinical Medicine, Chemistry, Biomedicine, Strategic Technologies (Artificial Intelligence, Nanotechnology, etc.), Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Physics and Astronomy, Information and Communication Technology, and Engineering.

A total of 316 female Iranian highly-cited researchers are among the top two percent of the world (one-year performance) in 14 subject areas of Clinical Medicine, Biomedicine, Chemistry, Engineering, Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Strategic Technologies (Artificial Intelligence, Nanotechnology, etc.), Information and Communication Technology, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Physics and Astronomy, Environment, Design and Construction, Public Health and Health Services, Biology, Social Sciences, Communication and Textual Research have obtained the necessary points.

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In 2023, 938 top researchers affiliated with Iranian organizations have been identified, which shows a 12 percent increase compared to the previous year. Over the past decade, the number of highly-cited researchers in the country has been growing.

Women are an important part of society, playing an important role in the development of human societies, IRNA quoted Ahmad Fazelzadeh, the head of the Islamic World Science and Technology Monitoring and Citation (ISC) Institute, as saying.

One of the indicators of scientific authority is the number of highly cited scientists in each country, and Iranian women researchers have a special place in the field of scientific authority at the national and international level, Fazelzadeh added.

ISC’s main responsibilities are to introduce highly-cited researchers and to provide the possibility to identify and introduce elite researchers and scholars.

According to its missions, ISC is responsible for monitoring the status of science and technology in Iran, Islamic Countries, and the world.

One of the indicators of scientific authority is the number of highly cited researchers in each country.

Among Iranian highly-cited researchers, women are also present and have played their part in the scientific authority of Iran.

Using the data indexed in the ISC database, ISC identifies highly cited Iranian researchers in Human Sciences, Social Sciences, Art, and Architecture.

In the latest announced list, highly cited researchers have been introduced in the period of 10 years (2011-2021). The criteria for selecting researchers in this list is the number of citations made to their scientific productions.

According to the recent report of ISC, in the list of one percent of researchers in the world which is based on the Essential Science Indicators  (ESI) database, a total of 135 Iranian female researchers have been recognized in the areas of Agricultural Sciences, Clinical Medicine, Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Neuroscience and Psychology, Engineering, Material Science, Psychiatry/Psychology, Computer Science, Interdisciplinary, Social Science, generalities and some have obtained the necessary points even in several fields.

Fazelzadeh went on to say that according to the Stanford University List which was conducted by a number of researchers from Stanford University and the Elsevier Institute via analyzing the data of the Scopus database, 60 highly cited Iranian female researchers are among the top two percent in the world (service performance) in eight subject areas including Clinical Medicine, Chemistry, Biomedicine, Strategic Technologies (Artificial Intelligence, Nanotechnology, etc.), Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Physics and Astronomy, Information and Communication Technology, and Engineering.

316 female Iranian highly-cited researchers are among the top two percent of the world (one-year performance) in 14 subject areas of Clinical Medicine, Biomedicine, Chemistry, Engineering, Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Strategic Technologies (Artificial Intelligence, Nanotechnology, etc.), Information and Communication Technology, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Physics and Astronomy, Environment, Design and Construction, Public Health and Health Services, Biology, Social Sciences, Communication and Textual Research have obtained the necessary points.

Some 46 female researchers in 13 subject areas of Business, Management and Accounting, Geographical Sciences, Psychology, Social Sciences, Knowledge and Information Science, Language and Linguistics, Educational Sciences, Economic Sciences, Sociology and Political Sciences, Language and Literature, Historical Sciences, Theology and Islamic Studies and other areas gained the needed points.

Iranian female scholars

While the West is trying to show a distorted image of Iranian women, the promotion of women’s status in Iran and their presence in various scientific and academic fields is undeniable

Despite all the problems and challenges that women all over the world face, they do not give up their dreams and goals and strive to be useful in society. Like many women in the world, Iranian women have also proved their capabilities in various fields and succeeded both nationally and internationally.

Since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in February 1979, Iranian women have shone in different political, social, cultural, scientific, educational, and artistic fields in both national and international arenas during the past 44 years.

The scientific progress of Iranian women in the years after the Islamic Revolution has been very impressive.

Despite some difficulties, the Iranian female population has been provided with the opportunity to study at universities in various fields so that educated women are seen as one of the most important social assets of the country today.

In the pre-Revolution era, most of the female pupils were keen on studying art and medical sciences at universities, but nowadays, they study in all fields including engineering, mathematics, economy, and agriculture.

As of 2006, women accounted for over half of university students in Iran and 70% of science and engineering students. In 2012, according to UNESCO data, over 2 million out of 4 million students in tertiary education in Iran were females, thus marking the fifth largest female enrollment after China, India, the US, and Brazil. In engineering fields, Iranian female enrollment ranked first in the world and in science fields second, after the US.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in one of his speeches on December 16, 1992, said, “… No one should propagate that by preserving one’s hijab, modesty, homemaking and raising children, one cannot acquire knowledge. Thank God, today we have so many female intellectuals and scientists in various fields of our society: hardworking, intelligent, and valuable university students; high-level graduates; outstanding and high-ranking physicians! Today, in the Islamic Republic of Iran, various fields of sciences are available for women…”

Iranian women have proven they can contribute greatly to the advancement of science, as 345 female researchers are on the Highly Cited Researchers list of the world.

In the previous edition of the Highly Cited Researchers revealed by Clarivate, 15 researchers were from Iranian institutions, but in the 2022 edition, 12 Iranian researchers have been included.

Global statistics show that 28 percent of researchers are women. It is worth mentioning that Iranian women are among those researchers, who presented much research at domestic and international levels.

The Iranian women have succeeded in playing key roles in managing startups and accelerators, facilitating groups and companies active in agriculture, industries, architecture, pharmaceutical, and economic sectors, they also shone in the entrepreneurship area.

Iranian women have been able to achieve countless successes in various fields. It is difficult to name all these women. There are also many successful Iranian women all over the world who are famous in many fields of science and technology. A number of these women have achieved the highest honors in certain fields.

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Women have always been present throughout history and paid a role in its construction, even though their contributions are often masked or overshadowed. Throughout history, women have been present shoulder to shoulder with men in the ups and downs of life and in the construction of society. Sometimes directly and occasionally by persuading men and creating the necessary motivations in them, they have shown their role in human history.

Iranian women’s movements and their effective role before the victory of the Islamic Revolution were stronger than ever before. By encouraging their husbands and children to fight against the Shah’s [Mohammad Reza Pahlavi] regime, they tried to overthrow the tyrant government, which was one of the effective factors in the evolving process of the Revolution.

Speaking about the role of women in the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini [Founder of the Islamic Republic] said, “If the role of the women was not greater than that of the men, it was certainly no less. Their presence on the various fields of battle made the faint-hearted strong and doubled the strength of the strong. And you yourselves can vouch for the fact that the role of you ladies throughout this Islamic movement, this Islamic Revolution, has been greater. For you were both active yourselves and inspired the men to be active too. You have been a source of pride and it is much appreciated.” (April 8, 1984)

Defiant Iranian women played a crucial role in the success of the Islamic Revolution. Some women backed the Islamic Revolution because they were living under a government [Pahlavi dynasty (1925-1979)] that had no respect for the traditional and Islamic values that many of them had been taught to respect. These women didn’t want to be molded into Western women; they wanted to create their own images. They felt the Pahlavi regime was trying to make them into mindless Western dolls to keep their minds off more important issues, like politics.

These women who participated in revolutionary and religious activities believed that an Islamic government would give them the respect they deserve. Women took an active role in discussing the issues surrounding them, including what constituted proper attire. Forms of dress were increasingly becoming a matter of choice.

In this regard, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in one of his speeches said, “Fortunately pious women have been pioneers in different arenas and in different events in our society, not just after the Revolution, but since a long time before the Revolution… Iranian women rose up at a time when only a few religious scholars and outstanding personalities were involved in the issue.

They arranged a gathering and blocked the path of the ruler of the time…  In the case of the resistance that led to the Islamic Revolution, I know for a fact that in certain parts of the country, our women entered the arena earlier than our men. They arranged street protests earlier than men.” (May 12, 2012)

Women living in that era also were tired of the corruption and incompetency of the government and were also horrified by the violent way that the regime dealt with peaceful demonstrations. Iranian women, through their support of the Islamic Revolution, were looking for an alternative to the Shah regime.

There isn’t one specific group of women that can be pinpointed as the main participants in revolutionary activities; Women from all walks of life, rich and poor, liberal and secular, amplified their revolutionary roles and activities. Support for the Islamic Revolution among women increased, as the shah’s brutality increased. Women’s participation in revolutionary activities was non-violent for the most part, although some women did become famous for their participation in guerilla warfare. Women became ever more instrumental in the days leading up to the success of the Islamic Revolution. However dreadful the storm was, it was the women who bore the brunt – as Ayatollah Khamenei often indicated, it was the women who carried the heaviest burdens in those times.

“In fact, during the Revolution, women were the frontline soldiers of the Revolution; this is not an exaggeration… If women did not accept the Revolution and did not believe in it, the Revolution would certainly not have happened, because first of all, half of the group of revolutionaries would not be directly present at the scene; Secondly, they indirectly would influence their children, husbands, and brothers [for not attending revolutionary activities],” said Ayatollah Khamenei. (January 16, 1990)

Some of the responsibilities women took upon themselves, during the revolution, were as follows: educating others on the religious ideologies, which facilitated the revolutionary process; women also took to writing and expressing themselves, by way of their own female-centric pamphlets and magazine publications; asides from taking part in the demonstrations, they also spread the word on events that were to take place against the shah. Some of them cared for the wounded, opened their homes when needed, and female doctors provided medical assistance.

As a further matter, religious enlightenment paralleled with the struggle for women’s rights led many women to adopt Islamic values; additionally, to show their disdain for the shah and support of the revolutionaries. They took to chador, as a symbol of their support – for and with the revolutionaries.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution also in one of his speeches talked about some clerics who opposed political roles of women during the Revolution, saying, “I admit that our magnanimous Imam [Khomeini] was the first person who understood the roles of all people in society—including women… Imam Khomeini (r.a.) had the same attitude towards women: he understood the importance within each role that women could play. On the other hand, there were certain luminaries, among our religious scholars, who had to be convinced whether it was necessary to let women take part in demonstrations. They used to say that women should not take part in the demonstrations. Imam Khomeini’s thoughts and determination were shaped into a firm pillar, which people relied upon in order to stand up against such views: views that were historically presented by important centers.” (January 4, 2012)

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In January 2021, the administration submitted the long-awaited bill to the parliament.

The bill titled, Protection, Dignity, and Security of Women against Violence, had been under review since September 2019. It criminalizes any act or behavior that causes “physical or mental harm” to women “as a vulnerable gender”.

It recommends a fund for safeguarding women’s rights with provisions for providing medical expenses for the victims of violence and imparting skill development training to them.

For the first time in Iran’s legal system, this bill defines violence against women and considers various types of violence as “crimes” and provides “punishments” for them.

At the same time, it has set tasks for the relevant judicial and executive bodies to prevent the occurrence of violence against women and provide support to the victims of violence by directing and regulating the aforementioned bodies.

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These cancers are the most preventable cancers and at the same time they account for 40 percent of cancers among women and 25 percent of cancers both among men and women, ISNA quoted Ali Qanbari-Motlaq, a health ministry official, as saying.

The pilot phase of the plan was carried out in 2016 and 2017, he said, adding that in 2018, the development plan of the first phase started.

He pointed out that almost 150,000 people in the country are diagnosed with cancer every year.

Countries are divided into five categories for cancer incidence, and Iran is at the average level in this regard, he noted.

World Cancer Day

World Cancer Day held every 4 February is the global uniting initiative led by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC).

By raising worldwide awareness, improving education, and catalyzing personal, collective, and government action, the initiative aims to encourage people work together to reimagine a world where millions of preventable cancer deaths are saved and access to life-saving cancer treatment and care is equitable for all – no matter who they or where they live.

Created in 2000, World Cancer Day has grown into a positive movement for everyone, everywhere to unite under one voice to face one of the greatest challenges in history.

Each year, hundreds of activities and events take place around the world, gathering communities, organizations, and individuals in schools, businesses, hospitals, marketplaces, parks, community halls, and places of worship – in the streets and online – acting as a powerful reminder that we all have a role to play in reducing the global impact of cancer.

While we live in a time of awe-inspiring advancements in cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, many of us who seek cancer care hit barriers at every turn.

Income, education, geographical location, and discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, and lifestyle are just a few of the factors that can negatively affect care.

So, this year’s World Cancer Day’s theme, “Close the Care Gap”, is all about celebrating progress in its many forms that enable more people to seek and receive the care they need and deserve. It is about providing the momentum to fuel our fight for fairness.

CAR T-cell therapy

In November 2022, the first phase of a national project aiming to take advantage of gene therapy for the treatment of children with cancer, known as “CAR T-cell therapy”, came on stream.

The project was inaugurated in the presence of Ruhollah Dehghani Firoozabadi, the vice president for science and technology, IRNA reported.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is a way to get immune cells called T cells (a type of white blood cell) to fight cancer by changing them in the lab so they can find and destroy cancer cells.

CAR T-cell therapy has been successful on a five-year-old boy suffering from chemotherapy-resistant leukemia.

The project took nearly seven years to be implemented, Amir Ali Hamidiyeh, head of the gene, cell, and tissue research institute of Tehran University of Medical Sciences said.

After passing cell studies and preclinical studies on animals and obtaining a license and code of ethics from Tehran University of Medical Sciences, a gene therapy product was used for a patient for the first time in the country, he added.

The method is currently in the clinical trial stage and was used on a child with leukemia who was resistant to all treatment methods, he highlighted.

National cancer control program

With the support of the World Health Organization, the national cancer control program has been developed, which sets out the Ministry of Health’s roadmap up to the Iranian calendar year 1404 (March 2025-March 2026).

The purpose of the program is to reduce cancer prevalence and mortality while improving the quality of patients’ lives, which can serve as a model for other countries, especially in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

The program includes two important documents, namely, “development of national cancer care network” and “development of cancer human resources”, which resulted in the establishment of the early diagnostic centers.

First ion therapy center in West Asia

In July 2021, Iran inaugurated an advanced ion therapy center for the first time in West Asia, with the aim of providing definitive treatment for all types of cancer.

Ion therapy is a unique and innovative form of radiation therapy in the world for the treatment of cancer, as the radiation can be focused exactly on the area of the tumor, ensuring that radiation-sensitive organs are best protected.

Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization, said some 200 million Euros have been allocated to equip the center.

The center is unique in West Asia and is the seventh hospital in the world to be built with advanced equipment, he added.

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The lists of top and influential researchers are published every year by various citation databases. The global index categorizes researchers based on different criteria, including the number and citations to their articles.

The larger number of researchers from each country indicates the scientific authority of the country in the international arena.

It is noteworthy that the number of Iranian researchers in the top one percent of highly cited scientists has increased from 685 in the past Iranian calendar year 1400 (March 2021-March 2022) to 840 in the current year.

And the number of researchers of the top two percent of highly cited scientists has increased from 1,870 last year to 1,941 this year.

Iranian women have also played their role in the scientific authority of Iran, and in the list of 2,795 Iranian highly cited researchers, which includes researchers in the top 0.1 percent, top 1 percent, and top 2 percent, there are 345 Iranian women scientists.

Domestic support

The national budget bill for the next Iranian calendar year 1402, which starts on March 21, has increased the budget for women’s affairs by over 50 percent compared to the current year’s budget.

Some 580 billion rials (about $1.5 million) has been proposed by the budget bill for the next year compared with 320 billion rials (about $800,000) for the current year, ISNA reported.

President Ebrahim Raisi submitted the administration’s draft of the national budget bill for the next Iranian calendar year 1402, which starts on March 21, to the Majlis on January 11.

The proposed budget amounted to about 52.616 quadrillion rials (about $131 billion), with a 40 percent rise from the current year’s budget.

The president mentioned stable economic growth, people’s livelihood, observing justice, and efficiency of the government system as the main approaches of the budget bill and stated: “In this bill, the establishment of a progress and justice fund in all provinces is foreseen so that the development credits of the provinces are paid systematically.”

The National Headquarters for Women and Family Affairs has approved six plans to support families and empower women and improve their status in society.

The formation of a loan guarantee fund for women heads of households was one of the plans of the National Headquarters for Women and Family Affairs.

Due to the fact that many female breadwinners could not use business loans due to the lack of a guarantor, the fund was established to help them.

According to official statistics, there are 3.5 million female heads of households, but according to unofficial statistics, the figure reaches more than 6 million.

A plan is entitled ‘Upgrading the structure of the vice president and advisors related to the vice presidency for women and families.’

Highly cited researchers

According to the 2022 list of Highly Cited Researchers revealed by Clarivate, 12 Iranian researchers are among the most cited researchers.

The exceptional individuals designated Highly Cited Researchers 2022 have published multiple highly cited papers, ranking in the top 1% by citations for field and year over the last decade. Of all the world’s researchers, they are one in 1,000.

The analysts use both quantitative and qualitative analysis to identify influential individuals from around the globe and across many research fields. This year, 6,938 scientists and social scientists from nearly 70 countries were recognized.

In the previous edition of the highly cited researchers list, 15 researchers were from Iranian institutions, but in the 2022 edition, 12 Iranian researchers have been included.

In November 2022, the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) database listed 841 Iranian researchers among the top one percent of most cited researchers in the world.

The highest number of researchers were included in the engineering category amounting to 229 scientists, followed by clinical medicine with 140, and the multidisciplinary category with 150 people.

In October 2022, Stanford University listed 1,870 Iranian researchers among the top 2 percent of the most-cited scientists in the world, which has grown significantly compared to past years.

Despite U.S. sanctions, the international activities of Iranian scientists have increased year by year, so that more than 35 percent of Iranian articles in Scopus have been multi-national projects, the deputy science minister, Peyman Salehi, has said.

Science diplomacy is the use of scientific collaborations among nations to address common problems and build constructive international partnerships.

In 2021, Iranian scientists published more than 77,000 scientific articles in the Scopus database, ranking 15th worldwide.

The country also ranked 15th and 16th in the world in terms of scientific references.

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In January 2021, the administration submitted the long-awaited bill to the parliament.

The bill titled, Protection, Dignity, and Security of Women against Violence, had been under review since September 2019. It criminalizes any act or behavior that causes “physical or mental harm” to women “as a vulnerable gender”.

It recommends a fund for safeguarding women’s rights with provisions for providing medical expenses for the victims of violence and imparting skill development training to them.

For the first time in Iran’s legal system, this bill defines violence against women and considers various types of violence as “crimes” and provides “punishments” for them.

At the same time, it has set tasks for the relevant judicial and executive bodies to prevent the occurrence of violence against women and provide support to the victims of violence by directing and regulating the aforementioned bodies.

Ensieh Khazali, the vice president for women and family affairs, told ISNA that the bill for protecting the dignity of women against violence has been submitted to the parliament.

In this regard, meetings have been held with the members of the parliament, and this bill has been placed on the agenda of the parliament with a double urgency, she added.

Meanwhile, Kazem Gharibabadi, secretary of the High Council for Human Rights and deputy head of the Iranian judiciary, has recently said that in order to protect women’s rights as much as possible, the headquarters submitted proposals to the social committee and the presiding board of the parliament to amend the bill.

Empowering women

The national budget bill for the next Iranian calendar year 1402, which starts on March 21, has increased the budget for women’s affairs by over 50 percent compared to the current year’s budget.

Some 580 billion rials (about $1.5 million) have been proposed by the budget bill for the next year compared with 320 billion rials (about $800,000) for the current year.

Meanwhile, the National Headquarters for Women and Family Affairs has approved six plans to support families and empower women and improve their status in society.

The formation of a loan guarantee fund for women heads of households was one of the plans of the National Headquarters for Women and Family Affairs.

Due to the fact that many female breadwinners could not use business loans due to the lack of a guarantor, the fund was established to help them.

According to official statistics, there are 3.5 million female heads of households, but according to unofficial statistics, the figure reaches more than 6 million.

A plan is entitled ‘Upgrading the structure of the vice president and advisors related to the vice presidency for women and families.’

Women’s achievements

The Vice Presidency for Women and Family Affairs has released a report on the achievements of women after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in 7 areas of “education”, “health”, “employment and entrepreneurship”, “media”, “sports”, “decision-making”, and “environment, climate, and crises”.

In the field of education, the share of women in university faculty members has increased by 33.3 percent, and in medical sciences universities by 34 percent. Also, the number of female students in the country’s universities has increased by 56 percent, according to the report.

Also, illiteracy among women and girls has been nearly eradicated as the literacy rate reached 99.3 percent and the ratio of female to male students has increased by 28 percent.

The report also says that after the Islamic Revolution until the past Iranian calendar year (March 2021-March 2022), more than 9,500 female authors and 840 female publishers were active in the country.

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The formation of a loan guarantee fund for women heads of households was one of the plans of the National Headquarters for Women and Family Affairs.

Due to the fact that many female breadwinners could not use business loans due to the lack of a guarantor, the fund was established to help them.

According to official statistics, there are 3.5 million female heads of households, but according to unofficial statistics, the figure reaches more than 6 million.

A plan is entitled ‘Upgrading the structure of the vice president and advisors related to the vice presidency for women and families.’

Based on the plan, positions should be assigned to women at the level of deputy and director general, and these advisors should be involved in the major decisions of organizations and ministries and have a vote and opinion in the council.

Four other proposed plans in the fields of reducing the damage of divorce with the help of counseling for new couples, a women’s employment system, a comprehensive statistical system of women and families, and the formation of women’s working groups, health, and security were also approved.

Counseling for the first year of life for couples is free. This project will be piloted in five provinces with high divorce rates in the first year of its implementation.

President Ebrahim Raisi in a meeting with members of the National Headquarters for Women and Family Affairs said the plans are mainly aimed at decision-making, and emphasizing the need for using people’s capacities and non-governmental organizations.

Iranian women’s achievements

The Vice Presidency for Women and Family Affairs has released a report on the achievements of women after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in 7 areas of “education”, “health”, “employment and entrepreneurship”, “media”, “sports”, “decision-making”, and “environment, climate, and crises”.

In the field of education, the share of women in university faculty members has increased by 33.3 percent, and in medical sciences universities by 34 percent. Also, the number of female students in the country’s universities has increased by 56 percent, according to the report.

Also, illiteracy among women and girls has been nearly eradicated as the literacy rate reached 99.3 percent and the ratio of female to male students has increased by 28 percent.

The report also says that after the Islamic Revolution until the past Iranian calendar year (March 2021-March 2022), more than 9,500 female authors and 840 female publishers were active in the country.

In the field of employment and entrepreneurship, 4,200 rural women’s credit funds have been operating. Also, 2,390 women work as members of the board of directors of knowledge-based companies.

According to this report, there are 16,111 sports clubs for women in the country, and 3,302 medals have been won by female athletes in recent world events.

Moreover, 70 women have been presidents of sports committees at the provincial level, and 51 women have been presidents and heads of sports federations. Also, 88,366 women referees have participated in national and international competitions, and Iranian women have worked in 97 international seats in world sports federations.

In the field of media, the participation rate of women in the field of information technology has reached 5.31 percent, 903 women filmmakers have worked in the field of cinema and 2000 women specialists have worked behind the scenes.

Also, 114 national awards and 128 international awards have been won by female filmmakers in prominent festivals.

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