Afghan Female Students’ Encounters with Gendered Knowledge in Iran’s Women’s Studies Programs

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD in Women’s studies, Department of Woman & Family, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Religions & Denominations, Qom, Iran.

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences and Economics, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran.

3 Associate Professor, Department of Social Sciences and Population Studies, Women Research Center, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Women’s Studies, which has been established in the West for more than half a century, offers an intersectional comprehension of gender by considering ethnicity, race, class, and sexuality, and by providing a context-based interpretation of femininity and masculinity. In Iran, more than two decades have passed since the establishment of this field, and alongside Iranian students, Afghan women students have also pursued studies in Women’s Studies programs. Due to the patriarchal cultural context of Afghanistan and these women’s encounter with gender concepts within Iranian academic settings, this study aimed to give a perception of their lived experiences of engaging with gender knowledge. This research adopts an interpretive phenomenological approach. The participants were fourteen Afghan female students enrolled in master’s and doctoral programs in Women’s Studies who were selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews and analyzed utilizing thematic analysis based on Van Manen’s approach. The findings demonstrate that studying Women’s Studies for Afghan women has been associated by four main themes: “gendered insight,” “gendered empathetic reflection,” “positive gender orientation,” and “gendered labeling.” Accordingly, on the one hand, through the acquisition of gender knowledge and gendered awareness regarding entrenched discrimination, these students achieved a better understanding of their relationship with self and social relations, ultimately leading to the will for agency within the gender domain. On the other hand, throughout this process, they encountered pressures and judgments manifested in the labels of being demanding and anti-family imposed by others.

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Woman in Development & Politics
Volume 24, Issue 1
April 2026
Pages 1-33

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