An Investigation into Iranian Women's motivations to Participate in Social Activities

This multipurpose study was primarily concerned with understanding women's motivation to participate in professional and educational activities and specifying the impact of determinant factors on their willingness to take part in such activities. More specifically this study strived to answer the following question; what are the Iranian women's motivations to participate in social activities (in terms of educational and employment variables)? A researcher-made questionnaire whose reliability and validity was established was administered to 360 women in Semnan selected by random stratified sampling. The findings of the study indicated that their motivation for the most part rest on social and cultural factors. It can be interpreted that they try to gain benefit of these two factors in their social participation. However their financial and psychological motivation to work and to pursue education play an important role as they regard employment and education as a support to their financial independence and as they endeavor to win promotion to higher social and financial ranks in society. But it should be noted that women with university education in their pursuit of employment and education try to secure their individual, familial and social rights. Additionally, through establishing their social relations with the world around they raise the possibility to make a more favorable choice to marry