Abstract
This study applies empowerment theory to examine women’s access to the credit system. The theory distinguishes five stages of welfare, awareness, access, participation, and control and - focuses on gender equality in the development process. Survey research was conducted in 1 the city of Tehran and attempted to answer questions such as: To what extent do women interact with the credit system? To what degree do they benefit from these services? In what stage of empowerment are the women located? Women mainly interacted with banks to pay household utilities bills and manage savings accounts. They used the banking system for savings and deposits (particularly qarz ol-hassaneh) more than for accessing credit resources. Those who were successful in securing loans had a lower sense of being discriminated against. The requested loan amounts were not significant enough to support major investments. Among the five stages of empowerment theory, the women were in the awareness and access stages.
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