Unemployed Graduates; Iran’s Job Market Not Ready to Accept Wave of ‘Degree Holders’

Iran’s Student News Agency (ISNA) reported in an article titled “The Burden of Unemployment on Students” that one of the main goals of students is obtaining a university degree and entering the appropriate job market. ISNA also raised the question of whether appropriate conditions exist for students to enter the job market.

The same news agency reported in another report that in the summer of 2021, approximately one million graduates from the country’s universities were unemployed, of which 474,000 were men and 538,000 were women.

Which provinces and universities have the highest number of unemployed graduates?

According to the Student News Agency, based on “Ministry of Science monitoring,” the highest unemployment rate among university graduates belongs to three provinces: Gilan, Mazandaran, and Golestan with 66 percent, and in the second rank are the provinces of Yazd, Isfahan, and Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari with a 56 percent university graduate unemployment rate. Following these are the provinces of East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, Zanjan, and Ardabil with a 51 percent unemployment rate.

According to this report, the provinces of Tehran and Alborz have the lowest unemployment at 39 percent, followed by Razavi Khorasan, South Khorasan, North Khorasan, and Semnan with a 40 percent unemployment rate.

Among universities, at the bachelor’s degree level, the highest unemployment among graduates belongs to Al-Zahra University with 52 percent, and the lowest belongs to Qom University of Technology with 17.6 percent.

At the master’s degree level, Yasouj University had the highest unemployment rate at 42 percent and Golestan University had the lowest at 14.3 percent. At the doctoral level, Isfahan University of Technology had the highest unemployment at 25 percent and Al-Zahra University had the lowest at 5 percent in 1399 (2020).

Reasons for Graduate Unemployment

Tasnim News Agency reported: While the job market is facing an influx of employment demands from university graduates and the unemployment situation is deteriorating day by day, we observe that there is no leadership to create employment.

The news agency then listed the main reasons for graduate unemployment, including:

– Iran’s educated population has increased approximately 14 times since the 1979 Revolution, while the job market has not developed.

– Intense inclination toward certain fields of study.

– Education in fields where the job market is non-existent or limited, such as agriculture and veterinary medicine.

– Decreased rate of economic participation by the educated in recent years.

– Increase in universities without a corresponding increase in job opportunities.

Which fields of study have the highest unemployment?

Based on the Ministry of Science monitoring in 1399 (2020), at the bachelor’s degree level, the fields of history, geography sciences, and aerospace had the highest unemployment at 67.3 percent, 54.6 percent, and 62.7 percent respectively. At the same level, the fields of health and medicine, computer science, and electrical engineering had the lowest unemployment at 22.1 percent, 39.2 percent, and 42.2 percent respectively.

At the master’s degree level, the fields of history and geography sciences have the highest unemployment rate among master’s degree holders at 57.8 percent, and the lowest rate belongs to therapeutic fields at 12.1 percent and mechanics at 23.4 percent. At the doctoral level, the highest unemployment rate belongs to the aerospace field at 59.5 percent, and the lowest belongs to health and medicine fields at 14 percent and civil engineering at 5.5 percent.

No Alternative But Migration!

Trade News, while presenting statistics showing that more than 37 percent of holders of scientific olympiad medals and 25 percent of those supported by the National Elites Foundation have emigrated, acknowledges: Despair about reforming the country’s affairs is the most important reason for the emigration of graduates from Iran.

Ali Afshin Hamtiar, head of social affairs at Sharif University of Technology, says: Finding a job for diploma holders is easier than for bachelor’s degree holders. He says: What has affected the departure of students and graduates over these years is that most have become desperate and pursue anything available outside the country. He also quotes advice he gave to one student: “I told him if you want to enter industry, a bachelor’s degree is sufficient, because our industry is not advanced enough to depend on current research.”

This is while the World of Economics newspaper reports on the prominent presence of graduates of Imam Sadiq University in government positions in the cabinet of Ibrahim Raisi’s administration.

A university that, according to some experts, admits applicants based on political and religious inclinations and beliefs.

It appears that the realities of the job market in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the country’s political and economic conditions show that this market is not ready to accept the wave of “degree holders.”

Source: Voice of America