Awful

Female College Students Outnumber Male Students In Iran, So Obviously Girls Should Be Banned From Archaeology 101

Much has been made of the fact that women are enrolling in universities at a much higher rate than men in the United States, but women outnumbering men in college is a global phenomenon — and Iran is not taking it well. It’s an odd shift, because Iran was one of the first Middle Eastern countries to open higher education to women in 1979. But now that women make up over 60% of the student body, instead of figuring out ways for men to step it up and get more competitive, the solution is obviously barring women from classes altogether.

The BBC Persian reports:

More than 30 universities have introduced new rules banning female students from almost 80 different degree courses.

These include a bewildering variety of subjects from engineering, nuclear physics and computer science, to English literature, archaeology and business.

No official reason has been given for the move…Higher Education Minister Kamran Daneshjoo has sought to play down the situation, stressing Iran’s strong track record in getting young people into higher education and saying that despite the changes, 90% of university courses are still open to both men and women.

Nope, try again, Iranian PR spin doctors. “You can have 90% of what the dudes get” is not equal or acceptable, as anyone who learned fractions in elementary school or listens to T.I. knows (and T.I. figured this out in 2008!). It appears that as young Iranians have become more assertive about their belief in crazy things like democracy and self-determination, the Iranian government is scrambling to put some freedom toothpaste back in the freedom toothpaste tube:

However, since the speech there have been reports of cutbacks in family planning programmes, and in sex education classes at universities.

It is not yet clear exactly how many women students have been affected by the new rules on university entrance. But as the new academic year begins, at least some have had to completely rethink their career plans.

“From the age of 16 I knew I wanted to be a mechanical engineer, and I really worked hard for it,” says Noushin from Esfahan. “But although I got high marks in the National University entrance exam, I’ve ended up with a place to study art and design instead.”

Clearly Noushin is going to realize that, rather than becoming an engineer, she’d prefer having fifteen children and forgoing high school altogether. Because if there’s one thing that’s held true throughout history, it’s that when the powers that be start rolling back freedoms that a huge population already take advantage of and enjoy, everyone is usually fine with it. Just ask Sandra Fluke.

TAGS: Boneheads | Higher Education | Iran

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