Evaluation of Gender Inequality in Women's Education and Employment and Analysis of Factors Affecting it (Case study: Villages of urban Peripheral Tabriz)

The issue of inequality is not a new concept, it has been part of global politics, and it has attracted the attentions of leaders all over the world (Akintnde,Othman.,2023: 1). also, one of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) achieve equal rights and opportunities for both women and men in all spheres of society, eliminate discrimination on the grounds of gender and apply special measures to the balance between women’s and men’s ability to enjoy equal rights (Chornodon etal., 2022:123). However, gender inequality has come to the forefront of policy debates, not only because it deprives a basic human right, but also due to a surge in evidence that illuminates the extensive costs it incurs on society, this is why various recognized international organizations have stressed the importance of eradicating this global misfortune (Akintnde, Othman., 2023: 1).

Equality in education has always been a major concern in the field of education. Inequalities in education are manifested in many ways, mainly between regions, rural and urban areas and gender (Zhao., 2022: 831). Furthermore, Gender inequality in education has become the most influencing overall gender inequality. So, Inequality of educational background between female and male impact gender inequality in the workplace, position, role in society, as well as freedom of opinion. Also, there is a lot of empirical evidence to show that educational discrimination against women hinders the development economy and exacerbating social inequality. Efforts to reduce gender gaps in education by expanding opportunities for education for women is very profitable economically (Badriah, Istiqomah., 2022: 1). In Human society has done a lot to reduce the gender gap in healthcare and education, but it is still far from establishing equal income for women and men (Gurieva etal., 2022: 66). But can for reduce this inequality, various factors that can be effective in increasing gender inequality, including political, social, economic and cultural factors, can be identified (Sadeghlou et al., 2020: 29).



This research is applied in terms of purpose and in terms of descriptive-analytical approach. In the present research, at first, the data needed for the evaluation was prepared from the relevant organization and by using statistical formulas, the indicators determined for the years 2007 and 2017 were calculated and the changes of the two periods were calculated for the aforementioned indicators. Then, using the geographic information system and interpolation tool (IDW), the location of each village in different classes is determined so that the level of gender inequality in each index can be measured at the level of all the studied villages. Then, using the entropy model, weighted the mentioned indicators and classified the studied villages in terms of gender inequality with the Vikor model. Finally, with the regression weighted geography of model, the extent of the impact of each factor on these inequalities was evaluated.



Based on the analysis, the literacy rate of women is lower than that of men, but it is not undeniable that in the 10-year period, more villages of women than men have been placed in better conditions in terms of education. Also, from the point of view of education employment rate of students, the changes of 26 villages in the 10-year period showed that in terms of this indicator, the society of men is in a more favorable situation than women. In addition, due to the low number of female workers in rural areas, Basically, the changes were too upward, and these changes caused that in 30 villages in the society of women have better conditions than men. Finally, in terms of economic participation index, it was the community of men that among the 45 villages investigated, 26 villages were in a more favorable situation in the mentioned period. Also, the results obtained from the Vikor model indicate that the village of Alvar Alia, having relatively good socio-economic conditions in the women’s community compared to the other studied villages, was able to obtain a possible score of 1.00, against the village of Karajan by obtaining the lowest score meaning 0.00, in unfavorable conditions compared to other villages. In addition, the results obtained from the weighted regression of geography indicate that the most influential factors on gender inequalities are distance from the main road, availability of educational infrastructure, distance from Tabriz city and the percentage of rural employment, which are respectively 0.712, 0.696, 0.691 and 0.647.



Based on the results and discussions, it can be acknowledged that the level of women's literacy has increased in a ten-year period, which can be effective for women's employment and participation. But the number of working women or people who want to work in rural areas is relatively small compared to the population of women, on the other hand, it is expected that by increasing the literacy rate of women, in addition to their employment, better conditions will be created in other fields and directions. However, in contrast to the high literacy rate of women, the rate of female Education employment is relatively lower, that by encouraging women towards various activities and affairs, they can be pushed towards increasing the level of higher education and strengthen their skills and empower women so that the rural society can be guided towards a successful and sustainable and all-round development. Also, the rate of employment of women has increased significantly, but the number of women seeking employment or working in the studied society was very low; because, the amount of economic participation of women in the rural society was very small, but considering the high level of literacy of the women community compared to the previous periods, it is possible to draw a principled and logical planning at the level of rural communities, to guide these communities towards sustainable development. based on the final score, the villages of Alvar Alia and Karajan have achieved the highest and lowest gender equality, respectively. Also, based on the results obtained from the factors affecting on this inequality, conditions can be provided to minimize the difference in status between men and women is as minimal as possible.