An Examination of the Barriers to Iranian Women's Participation in Training and Extension Programs

This study is a quantitative research and the research method is descriptive survey. The statistical population consists of 2000 rural women of Hossein Abad village in Kangavar county. The sample size consisted of 131 women selected randomly on the basis of Krejcie and Cochran formula. The results indicated that the main barrier to women's participation was of the cultural type. The study recognized the following as the most important factors that prevent women's participation in education and extension programs: traditional beliefs that govern in the area, women involvement with difficult tasks, children upbringing, women low literacy or illiteracy, husband dissatisfaction with the presence of their wives in extension and education programs, and local criticism of those women who participate in the education and extension activities. The results also showed that there was not a consensus among rural women based on age and literacy level in relation to influential factors.