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Rural women's employment can be one of the ways to generate income, reduce the pressure on resources, and as a result, rural development. Meanwhile, the cooperative sector can play a significant role in the employment of rural women. But a vital issue that is important in this regard is the factors that influence the decision and intention of rural women who are members of local micro funds to start investing and working in cooperatives. In this regard, this research was designed to investigate factors affecting the behavioral intention of rural women members of Lorestan Province Micro Credit Funds towards self-employment in Cooperatives. The statistical population consisted of all rural women members of Lorestan Province Micro Credit Funds (N= 1087) who sampling of multistage quota proportional to the sample size through Krejcie and Morgan sampling table resulted in to select of 307 samples. Data collection in this study was conducted using a researcher-made questionnaire. After preparing the questionnaire and confirming its validity by the experts panel, its reliability was confirmed through a pilot study by calculating Cronbach's alpha values for the variables investigated. Structural equation modeling was used to determine factors influencing rural women's intention to self-employment in cooperatives through AMOS24. The results revealed that the interests variable has the highest direct impact on rural women's intention to self-employment in cooperatives and self-efficacy has the highest indirect influence on rural women's intention to self-employment in cooperatives.

Extended Abstract Background: Entrepreneurship is the main driving force in economic development. The role of an entrepreneur is to innovate and create new combinations of materials or how to form processes. The development of women's entrepreneurship has been one of the main topics of the contemporary development agenda in many developing countries. Many rural development experts believe that recognizing the capabilities and skills of women, especially rural women, and guiding their creative talents can influence using the capacities of this large social stratum. Entrepreneurship is a process that takes place in a network of social relations, and these social relations can limit or facilitate the entrepreneur's relationship with resources and opportunities. Therefore, social capital as a social phenomenon causes creativity, ideation, facilitation of innovative behaviors, and risk-taking. Entrepreneurs need a strong consulting and support system at every stage of their entrepreneurial activities. These networks play an effective role, especially in the first stages of activity, to obtain information and advice. Based on this point of view, the presence or absence of support networks is very influential in the development of women's entrepreneurship. Thus, this study mainly aimed to identify and analyze the individual and structural factors (especially social capital) influencing the entrepreneurial activity of rural women in Fars province to improve their status. Methods: This study was carried out using a survey technique, and a questionnaire was used for data collection. Based on the random sampling method, a random sample of 380 women was selected from the members of agricultural development specialized holding companies of Marvdasht, Shiraz, and Estahban in Fars province. A pilot study was conducted among 30 women members of the fund with similar conditions in Kavar County, and alpha coefficients were obtained between 0.77 and 0.95. The data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: A significant difference was found between the development of entrepreneurial activity of the members in the three Shiraz, Marvdasht, and Estahban cities, with a higher average level of entrepreneurial development among the women of Marvdasht. The higher components of entrepreneurial activity (innovation, environmental protection, customer satisfaction, fund members' satisfaction, flexibility, regional prosperity, job creation, profitability, business sustainability, competitiveness, and taking advantage of opportunities and idea commercialization) among women entrepreneurs of Marvdasht led to better development of their entrepreneurial activities. In the second place, women entrepreneurs of Shiraz City had a higher average score than Estahban City regarding the entrepreneurial activity development variable. On the other hand, the average social cohesion of women in Morvdasht city was significantly different from Shiraz and Estahban cities, and this rate was higher in Marvdasht City than in the other two cities. Also, there was a significant difference between the women studied in Shiraz and Estahban cities, with the latter women having a higher average than the former in social cohesion. The result of the regression test showed that social capital, success-seeking ability, decision-making ability, independence-seeking level, consulting policies, business atmosphere, skill in formulating a business plan, and support policies were the variables that explained the utmost amount (56%) of entrepreneurial activity changes. Conclusion: Considering the set of factors influencing the development of rural women's entrepreneurial activities, especially the role of social capital, the network of relationships, and activities in various social networks, it is suggested to improve the like-mindedness and synergy of the women entrepreneurs' activities through periodic and continuous meetings with other companies. Moreover, coherent and purposeful educational classes should be held for rural women members of the funds to strengthen their activities in social networks and help them acquire various entrepreneurial skills.

Extended Abstract Background: Entrepreneurship plays a very important role as the main driver of economic transformation and growth in global societies. This dynamic and creative process includes identifying new opportunities, developing innovative ideas, forming expert teams, attracting financial resources, offering new products, and opening new markets. Women entrepreneurs in rural industries play a key role in the economic and social empowerment of themselves and local communities. They help to improve the social and economic situation by creating job opportunities and reducing unemployment, and at the same time, by preserving and reviving local culture and transferring traditional knowledge and skills, they contribute to the sustainable development and cultural progress of rural communities. Entrepreneurial leadership, which includes Abilities such as motivating the team and promoting innovative ideas are considered one of the key elements in the success of entrepreneurs. Considering that the concept of entrepreneurship is expanding rapidly and the presence of women in the field of entrepreneurship is an issue that has been seriously considered by the world community. Deep in various sciences and techniques, it has caused the transformation and change of structures from traditional forms to more complex structures. To obtain any type of job in the 21st-century world, it is necessary to have a suitable level of professional skills, which are generally obtained through education. They are afraid of entrepreneurial activities. Therefore, there is a need for entrepreneurship training for rural women, which can help empower them and guide them towards entrepreneurial activities. This research focuses on the relationship between the different dimensions of entrepreneurial leadership and the entrepreneurial intention of rural women who are members of credit funds. Wisdom is concentrated in Ardabil province, especially when this leadership is combined with entrepreneurship education. Methods: The research was applied in terms of purpose, descriptive correlation in terms of data collection, and field implementation. In this research, rural women entrepreneurs who are members of microcredit funds with 1900 members in Ardabil province, who are active in the fields of animal husbandry, native chicken breeding, honey bee breeding, medicinal plant production, dairy production, and handicraft and agricultural production, were investigated. The sampling method is stratified random and 320 people were selected as a sample based on Cochran's formula. To collect data, three questionnaires including an entrepreneurial leadership questionnaire, a women's entrepreneurship questionnaire, and an entrepreneurship education questionnaire were used. The face and content validity of these questionnaires were confirmed by the university professors and considering that the factor loadings for all obvious variables were above 0.5, none of the items were left out. Also, the internal integrity of the used tools was evaluated through Cronbach's alpha coefficient, which showed that all the calculated values are more than 0.7, which can be concluded that the tool has the necessary reliability. The data have been analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, and methods such as confirmatory factor analysi s and structural equation models have been used to investigate the relationships between variables. SPSS22 and LISREL10 software were used for data analysis. Results: The results of this research indicate that the dimensions of entrepreneurial leadership include facilitation (perception, communication, and empowerment), support (commitment, motivation, and emotional intelligence), guidance (inspiration, goal orientation, and modeling), and coaching (team and partnership) with Special emphasis on entrepreneurship training affects the entrepreneurial intention of rural women in Ardabil province. This research specifically shows how different dimensions of entrepreneurial leadership can strengthen the entrepreneurial intention of rural women through entrepreneurship education. This research emphasizes the importance of providing supportive conditions and creating suitable platforms for entrepreneurship education and shows that such actions can help to develop entrepreneurship and improve the economic and social situation in rural areas. In other words, this research examines the vital role of entrepreneurship education in improving the impact of entrepreneurial leadership dimensions and provides practical suggestions to the officials and planners of rural affairs in Ardabil province.

Background and Aims Posture is an important factor in assessing the health of people, because any deviation in posture can lead to many disorders. The women in rural areas, due to certain characteristics, may be more affected by postural changes. This study aims to study the prevalence of postural abnormalities in rural women in Markazi Province, Iran based on age and body mass index (BMI).Methods Participants were 420 rural women at three age groups of 15-30, 30-45 and 45-60 years who were selected using multi-stage sampling method from 20 villages of Markazi province. The instruments included a wall-mounted stature measuring tape (Seca, model 206), a digital scale (model 2003D), the New York Posture Rating Chart, and an optical Pedoscope (model DSI). The nearest posture observed by the researcher was recorded using the New York Posture Rating Chart and a checkerboard from various perspectives. The arch height of the foot was determined using the Pedoscope. Data analysis was done in SPSS software using descriptive statistics and chi-square test for comparison of postural abnormalities based on BMI and age. The significance level was set at 0.05.Results Among the postural abnormalities, hyperlordosis (54.6%), forward head (50.8%), uneven shoulders (39%), genu varum (34%), scoliosis (28%), kyphosis (27.4%) and hallux valgus (25.2%) were more common among rural women. In the age group of 15-30 years, forward head was the most common abnormality. In the age group of 30-45 years, hyperlordosis was more prevalent, and uneven shoulders was the most common abnormality in the age group of 45-60 years. Based on BMI, forward head was more common in women with obesity class I, and hyperlordosis was more common in overweight women. According to the chi-square test results, the difference based on age was significant in forward head, hyperlordosis, knock knee, and pes cavus.Conclusion Th increase of age and BMI can impair postural control in rural women. Proper training of different correct postures and increase of physical activity can be effective for improving the posture of rural women.

Rural tourism is one of the most important types of tourism that plays an important role in socio-economic development of rural communities and can be effective in economic independence, creation of new job opportunities and improvement of social conditions of rural women. One of the interesting and new measures of rural tourism development is the creation of eco-tourism resorts. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of tourism and development of eco-tourism resorts in economic and social empowerment of rural women. This is an applied and developmental research with a descriptive-analytic approach with a deductive approach. Required information was collected through library, documentary and field studies (interview tools, questionnaires and direct observation). The statistical population of the study consisted of 110 rural women (permanent and non-permanent) employed in Khorasan Razavi resettlement centers that were established between 94 and 96 years, including 21 residences in 13 villages and 3 cities of the province. Data were analyzed by SPSS software and one sample T-test and Friedman test were used to test the research hypotheses. The development of eco-lodges in the study area with an overall average of 2.5 has had a small effect on the economic empowerment of rural women. But the social effects were obtained with an average of 2.8 higher, which indicates more effects on women's social empowerment. With the Farid Man rank test, it was found that the highest rank of economic empowerment belongs to the index of "increasing job opportunities" and the highest rank of social empowerment belongs to the increase of "sense of spatial belonging". Also, Pearson test showed a positive correlation between economic and social empowerment of rural women.

Introduction: The role of rural women in the process of economic development has been a growing concern of economists, planners, and the governments. The potentials of rural women as economic actors are not yet fully analyzed and yet there has not been adequate attention to the way gender affects rural women’s participation in economic development. Many projects for productivity increase in agriculture and rural development could not be realized or the outcome might have been different, if women had been involved in the process. Projects for family planning, the spread of literacy and basic health care cannot be achieved without recognition of the importance of the role of women. In the rural areas many poor families depend upon the income of women, who contribute significant amount of cash income to the subsistence level of economy. Always, indoor jobs are one way to achieve sustainable development in rural communities and rural women have a main role in the household economyy. The aim of this descriptive-survey research was to find out discrimination level of rural women participation in the indoor Jobs creation based on socio-economic aspects. Existing structures of decision-making in most developing countries cannot adequately represent women’s issues; their work and potentials for development have been neglected. The situation calls for structural change. Women’s full involvement in the formulation of programs would affect their lives. Access to and control of development resources need to be supported by organizations of the rural women themselves. Participation through local level organizations are critical for an empowering process, and which can provide access to resources for self-sustained development. Materials and Methods: This research is a quantitative study, non-experimental type and, an applied research, in terms of nature, the extent of controlling variables, and objective. Survey design was applied to achieve research objectives. The research population were included rural women of Fash district, Kangavar County, Kermanshah province that had to take out a loan for indoor job (N= 168). In this study census method was used. Data collection instrument was a questionnaire. Five-point Likert-type response scale (from very low= 1 to very high= 5) was used to measure research variables. Questionnaires’ face validity was confirmed by a panel of experts. Pilot test was performed to evaluate its reliability that Cronbach's alpha was between 0.81-0.86. Analyzing data was done by SPSS23 and R tools. Results and Discussion: The analysis of rural women’s demographic characteristics showed that most rural women were between the ages of 20 and 35 years. 23% of women were bachelor or higher. Thus, 52 percent of literate women were literate or illiterate. 33 percent of women were active in home businesses and marketed their products. In contrast, 67 percent of women did not participate in indoor jobs. To investigate the research hypotheses, women's participation score was divided into two levels named participation and non-participation based on the mean of the sample. Ordinal logistic regression was used for data processing using R software. Finding indicated that among the variables of the social and economic aspects, social status and income levels were highly discriminating the participation of rural women in indoor Jobs. Conclusion: It can concluded that promoting women's participation in social, economic and planning activities in order to expand their participation, especially in the economic field, is a prerequisite for sustainable development. This is particularly needed in rural areas where women have long been traditionally involved in family economic affairs. Also, it can concluded that various factors influence the participation level of rural women in the indoor jobs creation. In other words, interaction among socio-economic components can determine participation level of rural women. According to the results of this study, it is suggested that if the conditions and demands of rural women are provided, family businesses in rural areas can be organized as cooperatives. In order to familiarize and encourage rural women to participate in indoor business, targeted training programs to improve rural women's businesses should be provided to familiarize them with markets. In addition, the support provided by officials by providing the facilities needed to set up home businesses such as loans and banking facilities can help develop the industry in rural areas. Finally, development of entrepreneurial and self-employment culture in rural society by empowering entrepreneurs can impact the social status of rural women and promote home businesses.

This qualitative research was conducted with the aim of investigating the challenges of rural women's environmental literacy extension in Kermanshah province. The study population consisted of experts’ environment, natural resources, agricultural extension and nongovernmental organizations in Kermanshah province. Samples were selected using purposeful and criterion sampling method. Content analysis of data showed that the lack of systematic, comprehensive and appropriate planning with context, the lack of accountability and responsibility for environmental issues, the lack of between and within sections communication, the lack of priority of rural women in environmental education, problems related to the provision of skilled force and adequate funding for education, especially for women's education, inefficient policies and organizational structure and the lack of environmental perspectives has led to the lack of planning and proper implementation of programs and environmental education, especially for women. The results of this study can help planners to improve the level of environmental education for rural women.

we study the effects of socio-economic and demographic factors on women's economic participation in rural areas of Iran's provinces with emphasis of age-participation curve. Therefore, this study was performed by using the results of the rural households’ income and expenditure survey -has been taken in 2016- in the framework of Pseudo-Panel Data. We used the logit model and the maximum likelihood method to study the rural women's participation, with 28,265 observations. Results show the inverted U-shaped relationship between age and the probability of female participation; In other words, young women are more likely to participate in labor markets more than the other groups. Divorced and single woman has more likely to participate in comparison with who was being married. Therefore, with increasing the divorce rate and singleness in Iran, economic policymakers must provide appropriate solutions for this challenge in the coming years. We found that women studying and the presence of an infant under the age of 6 in the household has a negative effect on the possibility of women's participation in the labor market. The female education has positive effect on their participation rate. In the overlook, considering the demographic mirror and due to the frequency of the women population in the age group of 25 to 35 years, and more willingness of women in the age 35 to 44 years to participate in the labor market, and education of a significant portion of the rural women, the increase of rural female participation is expected in the years ahead.

In recent years, in rural areas of the country, women's attention to the city and township has created a new attitude and brought them together with intellectual changes in values, norms, customs, and demographic behaviors, so that the context They have created a change in their lifestyle and they have moved a certain orientation to them. Accordingly, the purpose of this research is to analyze the effects of urbanization on the changes in lifestyle of rural women in the villages of Shahrestah al-Shater. The method of this research is descriptive-analytic and the method and tool for data collection in theoretical study is in the form of a library and in the field study through questionnaire and observation. SPSS software and Cooper’s model have been used to analyze the data and information. A comprehensive statistical survey of this research was conducted in 10 cities of Alshtar, which was selected as sample by sampling Cochran formula and randomly distributed 166 women. The results of the research showed that there is a significant and positive relationship between the components of urbanism and the components of lightning, so that the correlation coefficient for the model of nutrition is 0.332, technology application is 325, change in clothing and Clothing 0.305, income 0.127, materialism 0.305, cultural and linguistic change 0.331, 0.587modernity, 0.053 consumption, environmental impact 0.386, and how to use energy And the resources are 0.327. Therefore, the effects of urbanism have created the context for changing the lifestyle of women in the economic, social, cultural, and environmental dimensions of villages in the city of Aleshtar.

Entrepreneurial resilience is the ability to withstand adversity quickly and is one of the most important personal traits in entrepreneurship. The resilience of women entrepreneurs in rural areas effectively creates or promotes business resilience, and as a result, the rural society. Resilient entrepreneurs welcome change instead of resisting and are very risk-averse and tolerant in achieving goals and managing challenges. This research aims to analyze the resilience of rural women entrepreneurs. The study's statistical population includes all members of parent companies supporting the development of agriculture in Fars province. The study was performed using stratified and random sampling methods with a sample of 269 people. A questionnaire was developed to collect data. The Connor-Davidson Individual Resilience Measurement Scale (CD-RISC) was used to measure resilience. According to the study results, the individual resilience of rural women in Fars province is almost high. A Comparison of the individual resilience in the three cities of the study shows that women entrepreneurs in Marvdasht and Shiraz have higher individual resilience than women entrepreneurs in Estahban. The variables of entrepreneurial spirit, entrepreneurial motivation, creativity, and the number of family members have a significant correlation with women entrepreneurs' resilience. Based on the results of the Stepwise regression, entrepreneurial spirit, entrepreneurial motivation, creativity, and the number of family members can predict the changes in women's resilience. Improving individual characteristics is necessary to improve rural women's entrepreneurial resilience. Therefore, it is suggested that training should be considered to strengthen the motivation, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit of rural women. Strengthening the skills of rural women in decision-making, stress management, concentration, emotional control, and independent thinking will also improve their resilience.

The importance of the role of rural women in human resources is important, not only in domestic activities, but also in production activities outside the home. according to women are engaged in activities both at home and abroad, and their share in economic and social activities needs to be determined more accurately and extensively. In this article, Has been used Grounded theory method and Participatory Rural Appraisal, Rapid Rural Assessment, Semi-structured interviews, observation and walking in the field and group discussion techniques, and has used snowball techniques for Selection of statistical samples up to theoretical saturation stage (In the twenty fifth person) in the data, and after analyzing the collected data in the field Through coding (open, axial, and selective), by choosing a central category of "Empowering rural women" a theory has been extracted based on collected data from the field. Then, according to data analysis based on the principles of the dominant theory of theory, the theory of "Empowering rural women as a factor for local development" was obtained from the data. Then a suggestion was made to get out of this situation. This article reviews the factors affecting rural women empowerment in Eshgabad Neyshabur District, specifically the rural handicrafts of these women in relation to local development. The results show that the participation of villagers, especially rural women, in development programs is essential to achieving the goals of comprehensive development. Therefore, it is possible to provide a theory that includes all the elements of a complete research and provide strategic suggestions for "empowering rural women as a factor for local development." Research objectives: Investigating the problems and factors affecting the empowerment of rural women in Ashgabat village of Neishabour city. Investigation of artifacts of rural women's handicrafts in Ashgabat village in connection with local development Research questions: What factors affect the empowerment of rural women in Ashgabat village of Neishabour city? How are the products of women's rural handicrafts in Ashgabat rural district related to local development in this region?

Context and purpose. This study aimed to analyze the effect of the tendency to entrepreneurial tendencies and psychological empowerment of rural women members of agricultural cooperatives in Semirom County. This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive survey in terms of research method. Methodology. This research is applied in terms of purpose and is considered a descriptive survey in terms of research method. To collect the data, a questionnaire was used based on the ordinal scale and the Likert level scale, the validity of which was confirmed by experts, and its reliability was confirmed by calculating the Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The study's statistical population was 239 rural women members of agricultural cooperatives in Semirom County. The sample size was calculated using the Krejcie-Morgan table of 148 people and the sample members were selected by simple random sampling. Also, in order to analyze the data, the structural equation modeling method with partial least squares approach and using Smart-pls3 software was used. Findings and conclusions. Results showed that the tendency to entrepreneurial tendencies has a positive and significant effect on lifestyle. Lifestyle has a positive and significant effect on the components of psychological empowerment (sense of competence, sense of autonomy, sense of effectiveness, sense of meaning) with path coefficients. The results also indicate the effect of entrepreneurial tendencies on the psychological empowerment of rural women members of agricultural cooperatives in Semirom city with the mediating role of a healthy lifestyle.

Rural women's employment can be one of the ways to generate income, reduce the pressure on resources, and as a result, rural development. Meanwhile, the cooperative sector can play a significant role in the employment of rural women. But a vital issue that is important in this regard is the factors that influence the decision and intention of rural women who are members of local micro funds to start investing and working in cooperatives. In this regard, this research was designed to investigate factors affecting the behavioral intention of rural women members of Lorestan Province Micro Credit Funds towards self-employment in Cooperatives. The statistical population consisted of all rural women members of Lorestan Province Micro Credit Funds (N= 1087) who sampling of multistage quota proportional to the sample size through Krejcie and Morgan sampling table resulted in to select of 307 samples. Data collection in this study was conducted using a researcher-made questionnaire. After preparing the questionnaire and confirming its validity by the experts panel, its reliability was confirmed through a pilot study by calculating Cronbach's alpha values for the variables investigated. Structural equation modeling was used to determine factors influencing rural women's intention to self-employment in cooperatives through AMOS24. The results revealed that the interests variable has the highest direct impact on rural women's intention to self-employment in cooperatives and self-efficacy has the highest indirect influence on rural women's intention to self-employment in cooperatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective (s): Iranian womenchr('39')s fertility has experienced a remarkable change in recent decades. Ideal fertility is one of the most important predictors of future fertility. The ideal fertility is one of those behaviors that will affect by social environment and the attitude of important others towards fertility. Hence, in this study an attempt was made to investigate the relationship between attitude of important others in womenchr('39')s social network and their ideal fertility. Methods: This was cross sectional study. A self-designed questionnaire was used to collect data. A total of 1247 married women, using stratified random sampling were surveyed in rural areas of Fars province in 2015. Results: The findings indicated that the mean ideal number of children for women surveyed was 2.5. The analysis showed that among demographic and socio-economic characteristics, education and religion had a significant impact on the ideal number of children. The findings also indicated that the attitude of husband, mother and friends towards the ideal number of children had the most important and significant impact on ideal fertility among women living in rural respectively. Conclusion: A remarkable part of womenchr('39')s attitude towards childbearing will form in their family and social environment. The findings suggest that demographic and socio-economic characteristics no longer could be the most important determinants of childbearing. It seems that at present childbearing has shifted from individual-biological behavior to social behavior. Iranian women modify their attitude towards childbearing and even shape it in their familial and friendship networks.

The architecture of rural housing in Iran presents a place with identity and responsiveness to the necessities of rural life and livelihoods. Aside from providing a place to live, rural housing accommodates a part of livelihood and economic activities of people. In recent years, rural housing has gone through drastic changes. While the role and performance of rural women is influenced by housing patterns and layouts, changes to, or elimination of, some of the elements of rural housing have affected women. In order to investigate the impacts of changing housing patterns on women’s role and performance, we used a questionnaire with 102 questions based on Likert scale. The paper relies on document review and field study (questionnaire). The study population was 169,875 households and 420 households were selected in sample villages in Lorestan to complete the questionnaires. Data processing was conducted using SPSS software and Mann-Whitney U test, Friedman, Kendall, correlation and path analysis. The results of this study indicate that the changes in the pattern of rural housing to comply with urban life and housing have led to a change in the elements and spaces of rural housing. These changes destroyed some spaces which were necessary for a number of activities and functions. These changes have limited the activities for rural women. As it is mentioned in various studies, women are the main force for change and potential resource for holistic and sustainable development of villages. But in many cases, changing livelihoods in rural areas, villages and rural fabric and spatial pattern of rural housing have affected women. The goal of providing women with an opportunity to active participation in the context of sustainable development of rural areas requires some innovations which will benefit their families and communities as well.

Given the many barriers to women entrepreneurship that hinder their success in economic activities, identifying them will help encourage and facilitate the success of women entrepreneurs. Therefore, in this research, the views of rural women in the central part of Kermanshah Province on the rural entrepreneurship barriers were measured. This research was a survey type and the instrument used was a questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSSv20 software. The obstacles were prioritized in six groups of development, personality, socioeconomic, socio-cultural, managerial, and family.

Objective: In a fast-paced world of technology that is changing people’s lifestyles and reducing mobility, rural women who were once a model of mobility have not been spared. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of musculoskeletal abnormalities of the upper and lower limbs in rural women in Qazvin province. Methods: The present study was a descriptive-comparative study. The statistical population of this study was rural women in Qazvin province with an age range of 15-65 years and an average age (41.88±15.70). In this research, 3023 people participated and were divided into four groups with different age ranges. Subjects were selected by snowball sampling method and participated in the study voluntarily. The collection tools included consent form, musculoskeletal abnormalities registration form, caliper, vertical line, checkerboard, and New York test. Descriptive statistics were used to show the prevalence of anomalies, and the Kruskal-Wallis test was used for group comparison in SPSS software v. 24. Results: Kruskal-Wallis test showed that in the variables head forward (P=0.001), torticollis (P=0.001), shoulder forward (P=0.008), uneven shoulder (P=0.001), kyphosis (P=0.001), lordosis (P=0.001), flat back (P=0.003), scoliosis (P=0.001), anterior pelvic rotation (P=0.001), genu Varum (P=0.001), genu valgum (P=0.001), genu recurvatum (P=0.001), flat foot (P=0.008), Pes cavus (P=0.004) and hallux valgus (P=0.001). There was a significant difference between groups. Also, the highest prevalence of upper limb deformities was related to uneven shoulder, head forward, and lordosis. The highest prevalence of lower limb deformities was related to anterior pelvic rotation, genu valgum, and flat foot. Conclusion: The results show that the prevalence of musculoskeletal abnormalities of the upper and lower limbs in rural women in Qazvin province is highly prevalent in the age range of 35-31 years and 50-36 years. Therefore, researchers believe that providing information about the prevalence of postural disorders can effectively design preventive programs and emphasize the need to develop corrective exercise and rehabilitation programs for this segment of society.

The main purpose of this research was to investigate the factors affecting the entrepreneurship success of rural women in North of Tehran province. The statistical population of this research was rural women, s cooperatives in North of Tehran province who were surveyed in 118 census cases. This research was conducted through a survey method and using a questionnaire tool. The validity of the research instrument was evaluated using the views of ten professors of Payame Noor University in Tehran and experts. The reliability of the tool was also calculated by calculating the Cronbach Alpha coefficient, which was calculated in different parts of the questionnaire equal to and above 0.812. Findings of the research show that there is a significant relationship between individual, family, economic-financial, social -cultural and political-legal factors with the success of rural women's entrepreneurship, which among these factors, the most important factor in the success of rural women entrepreneurship research is economic and financial factors.

The main purpose of this research was to both identify and prioritize training needs of rural women cooperatives’ members. The study has used both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Training needs of cooperatives' members were first explored by qualitative method (PRA), then prioritized by the quantitative method (questionnaire). In order to assess and prioritize the educational needs a job analysis model was used. The population included 230 members of the Noodsheh cooperative. A sample of 144 women was selected by a randomized method and Morgan’s Table was used for this purpose. The quantitative research tool was a questionnaire, that its validity was examined by a group of experts and to assess the reliability of the questions a pilot-test was used through SPSS software. Data was analyzed by descriptive and analytical methods. The results showed that the most important training needs for rural women cooperatives’ members of Noodsheh were: 1) conservation, rehabilitation and prevention of pasture’s demolition, 2) pest, diseases and weed control on gardens, 3) familiarity with designing new models of Geevah and dresses. The results also revealed that the most important problems of rural women cooperatives’ members of Noodsheh were: not enough understanding of members regarding to goals, principles and rules of coops, capital shortage of the coop, rental situation of the coop building, unreasonable expectations of some members regarding the coop, negative attitude of some members to the coop.

Introduction Women, as half of human society, have played different roles throughout history, taking advantage of different social and economic status. Like men, they performed various activities in society. Women work alongside men in society and take on important responsibilities. In the past, housewives cared about raising children. Today, however, women must be present in the social, political, cultural, and economic fields as active and creative people. Not so long ago, a rural woman interacted and communicated with family members by attending a family center, and therefore her life was satisfactory for her. Despite the traditional division of labor in the village, she played her roles well and there was no conflict between her roles. With the modernization of societies and the resulting changes, the role of women in the family changed. These changes caused a lot of emotional stress, including depression, lack of self-confidence, dissatisfaction with life, lack of happiness, etc., which threatened the physical and mental health of women. The present study investigates the evolution of the family, social, economic, political, and cultural roles of women in Joshagh village. This study aims to help women understand the concept of happiness. The consequences of changes in the role of women's happiness is another goal of this study. Materials and Methods Research data have been made available during five months of continuous living with rural women in Joshagh district. This has been achieved through techniques such as exploratory study, semi-organized interviews, focus group discussions, participatory observation, and direct observation. To do this, first, the available sampling method was taken from women. For this purpose, available people or volunteers were asked to participate in the research. Also, the snowball method contributed to the research in the next step. Finally, the findings of this study were the result of 31 interviews with 37 rural women. Individual and group interviews were analyzed in three analytical stages including open coding, axial coding, and selective or core coding by fundamental theory method. Discussion of Results and Conclusions Based on the results, the concept of happiness includes components such as women's gatherings, attending gatherings of friends, acquaintances, and relatives, attending religious ceremonies and places, women's work, and activities, happiness, lack of stress, worries, restlessness, anxiety, help and cooperation between women, enjoying the blessings of health, both mentally and physically, having a happy and strong spirit, enjoying life, and attending celebrations and joy. These components are strengthened by collective relations, social participation, and social trust between individuals. People’s interaction and communication with each other make people happy and that is why people enjoy being together. The results of the present study show that some of the interactions of rural women in their collective activities in the field of agriculture and animal husbandry have decreased. This decrease in interactions has reduced happiness. In other words, the changing role of women has reduced their traditional cooperation and collective participation. Women's gathering places have been gradually destroyed and no new place has been replaced. Many joyful ceremonies in the village have been forgotten and reduced to only a few religious and non-religious ceremonies throughout the year. This research shows that economic issues, the prevalence of luxury, etc. can be effective in reducing collective interactions. These have reduced women's happiness. First-generation women believed that despite the lack of facilities, women's cooperation created a happy mood. The group brought happiness to themselves and their peers by holding occasional gatherings such as walking the streets or attending religious ceremonies. Second-generation women understand both their mothers’ collective life and their daughters’ individualism. This generation is trying to get rid of everyday worries by using what they have learned, such as carpet weaving and so on. They also try to live happily by participating in partial and limited ceremonies in the village. The third-generation includes young girls who claim that the lack of facilities and equipment in their living space has caused them to lack happiness. Another reason for the lack of happiness can be related to the culture in the village, which does not allow them to move freely with their peers. Individualism is seen in this generation. However, this group tries to use their leisure time (such as meeting friends, traveling, attending religious ceremonies, etc.) to experience happiness with their peers.

Background and Objective: Physical activity is a very important factor in improving women›s health. The significant decline in physical activity, which is a gift of modernity in rural society, threatens the health of this group of women. This study was conducted with the aim of determining the effect of social empowerment on individual, social and environmental factors on the activities performed in rural women. Materials and Methods: This was a semi-experimental before-after study without a control group. 60 women of Kermajan village were randomly selected and examined. Individual factors based on physical activity awareness questionnaires, physical activity performance (IPAQ), physical activity self-efficacy (ESES), perceived barriers and benefits of physical activity (Sechrist) and social environment with social support questionnaire and physical environment with environmental factors questionnaire in It was measured twice before and after the intervention. Data analysis was done through Will Coxon statistical tests using SPSS version 26 software. Results: The average age of the studied women was (30.45 ± 7.31) years. The average awareness of women about physical activity from (3.72 ± 2.68) to (8.68 ± 1.64), the average self-efficacy from (25.52 ± 6.58) to (63.75 ± 6.73) and the average score of environmental barriers from (9.88 ± 2.65) to (18.87 ± 1.84); The average social support from (2.54 ± 8.33) (to (12.75 ± 4.09), the average amount of physical activity from (186.08 ± 93.08) (to (126.08 ± 104.84)) found significant changes (p<0.001). The average understanding of barriers and benefits changed from (143.60 ± 11.79) to (144.82 ± 9.38), which was not significant (p<0.113). Conclusion: Empowering the rural community can lead to increasing awareness and self-efficacy and the level of physical activity of women and increasing social support for rural women and environmental changes needed in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted in order to assess agricultural applied-scientific modules skills of rural women's cooperatives in Tehran province. The research was descriptive and was implemented through a survey. Using Krejcie and Morgan's (1970) Table a stratified random sampling method was used to select 150 rural women of cooperatives. Due to the limited number of experts, all of 30 experts participated in this study. This study was carried out in two steps. In the first step, women’s educational needs were identified from their own perspectives by the use of Borich-based questionnaire. Results of this step indicated that 17 educational needs had the highest priority “computer and internet”, “modern ways of packaging”, and “entrepreneurship and self-employment”. In the second step in order to determine the congruence level of women and experts regarding the women's educational needs, Quadrant model was used. Results indicated that majority of needs are matched from the women and experts perspectives. In order to make educational program effective, it is necessary to pay attention to women and experts' perspectives, and this can be achieved possible by using Borich and Quadrants model of educational needs assessment.

Introduction Today, water scarcity and pollution have endangered the lives of millions of earth's inhabitants, especially in poor countries. According to statistics, 80% of the world's population have access to only 20% of safe and healthy water supplies. Water-borne illnesses are also the cause of many deaths in poor countries. Thus, with over-harvesting and contamination of water resources, the global water crisis will escalate and political and social tensions will increase in the global arena, especially in arid and semiarid countries (Maleki et al., 2014). Increasing demand for water has put pressure on water supply systems and this has created environmental problems such as overuse of water resources and disrupting the ecological balance (Rafizadeh, 2015). The country uses about 150 billion cubic meters of surface and ground water resources annually, which now accounts for more than 60 percent of water capacity for various uses. According to global indices of a country that consumes more than 40% of its water resources, it has entered a phase of water stress, so Iran has entered this phase, an event that will likely lead to serious crises if the current trend of consumption and non-implementation of compensatory policies continues (Sabet Raftar, 2002: 3). Material & Methods The research method of this research was survey. The research tool was a questionnaire and 300 people were selected to determine the sample size based on Cochran formula. The sampling method was multi-stage cluster random sampling. Face and structural validities were used to determine the validity of the research questionnaire. Cronbach's alpha method was used to determine the validity and reliability of the research. SPSS software was used for data analysis. The data analysis was descriptive-analytical performed in two levels of descriptive and inferential statistics. Discussion of Results & Conclusions The results showed that the subjective participation of the respondents with an average of 3.80 indicated a high level of participation, with 63.7% of the respondents saying that they were mentally high and 2.7% were very low. The research data showed that the objective participation of women was moderate (mean 3.16). The frequency distribution of the respondents showed that 39.7% of the respondents stated that they were objectively average. The data showed that overall female participation was moderate (Mean= 3.21). The results of regression analysis showed that the research variables explain 22.2% of changes in the participation of rural women. The highest impact on the dependent variable was for the organizational support variable, followed by traditional values ​​and norms, and the income variable was the third most influential factor on women's participation. The results showed that the respondents were relatively mentally prepared to participate in water use management, but had a low level of objective and practical participation. On the other hand, some organizations such as Water and Wastewater, Agricultural Jihad, councils and other relevant bodies offer programs and measures to encourage women to increase the participation of rural women in water consumption management. It can be in the form of lectures, numerous meetings with women, distributing brochures and encouraging actions to manage water consumption. The findings also showed that traditional values ​​and norms are a major obstacle to women's active participation in water consumption management. Traditional norms and beliefs limit the role and presence of women in the society and women are not allowed to attend meetings, lectures, and conferences. Due to patriarchal culture, men are the main decision makers in many areas and women do not play much role in the decision-making process, and women are threatened and punished if they do not follow the norms and traditions. Therefore, one of the serious challenges of active women's participation is the power of rural beliefs and traditions that do not allow women to participate actively in decision-making in the field of water and face limitations, and this prevents them from actively participating.

Background & Aims: Proper intervals between births have been emphasized as a factor to guarantee the health of the mother and infant. Therefore, reproductive health programs are essential to achieving this important goal. Birth intervals are an effort to maintain a certain interval between births, which is explicitly defined relative to the newborn. Closely birth intervals are referred to as rapid repeated pregnancy in the public health and medical literature and increase the risk of various disorders in the mother and infant. The current literature in this regard indicates that more than 54 million women suffer from health problems during pregnancy and delivery each year, and approximately 1.5 million die, 99% of which occur in developing countries. Since the time and interval of subsequent births are the main determinants of fertility, fertility researchers have widely investigated these factors. In addition, evidence suggests that short intervals between births cause numerous adverse consequences in childhood and adulthood. The present study aimed to investigate the birth intervals and its determinants in the rural women of Fars province, Iran. In general, we sought to identify the vulnerable groups of women that need special attention in health and reproductive health programs, so that the general health of mothers and infants would be promoted in the community. Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional, analytical study was conducted using a researcher-made questionnaire on 882 married women aged 15-49 years with two or more children living in the rural areas of Fars province. The survey was performed using cluster sampling in October 2015. The independent variables included age, age of the spouse, year of marriage, ethnicity, religion, education level, and occupation status. In addition, the birth year of each child was recorded by asking the women, and birth interval was the dependent variable. Based on the fertility level of the women, the intervals between the first and second births, as well as the second and third births, were also considered and emphasized. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 16 using frequency tables and multiple regression analysis at the significance level of 0.05. Results: The mean age of the participants was 35.29±6.25 years, and the mean age of the spouses was 40.31±6.89 years. The mean age of the women in the first marriage was 19.56±3.95 years. The majority of the respondents were Persians and Shiites, and the majority of the women (53.6%) had two children. Furthermore, 4% of the rural women had academic education or higher educational degrees than diploma, and this rate was estimated at 5.6% for men. The findings also indicated that the largest proportion of the rural women and their spouses had secondary education or lower. In terms of occupation status, 3.3% of the rural women and 94.9% of the spouses were employed. In addition, approximately 83.6% of the rural households earned less than 10 million Rials, and 0.9% earned more than 25,000,000 million Rials per month. According to the results, 31.8% of the women with two children gave birth to their second child less than three years after the birth of the first child. This rate was estimated at 52%, 65.7%, and 80% for the women with three, four, and five children, respectively. The interval between the second and third birth for 25.3%, 50.5%, and 78.8% of the women with three, four, and five children was less than three years, respectively. On the other hand, all the women with four children gave birth to their fourth child less than three years after their last child. The multivariate analysis of the data indicated that ethnicity (P=0.023) and religion (P=0.002) had a significant effect on the birth interval between the first and second births, and the average birth interval in the Persian and Shiite women was higher than the women of other ethnicities and Sunni women. Notably, ethnicity (P=0.001) and religion (P=0.027) were the only significant variables to affect the interval between the birth of the second and third children of the rural women in Fars province. Conclusion: According to the results, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics had relatively similar effects on the birth interval between the first and third children, while the explanatory power of these factors increased relatively with the interval between the second and third births. In other words, the interval between the first and third childbirths in the rural women was relatively the same, and no significant differences were observed in terms of the socioeconomic characteristics of the women. Ethnicity and religion also had significant effects on the birth interval, which could be associated with the socioeconomic status of the rural women. It seems that the employed women had to increase their birth intervals due to the combination of childbirth and occupation. Nevertheless, no significant correlation was denoted between the occupation status of the women and birth intervals, while our findings indicated that the employed women were more likely to give birth to their second child within an increased interval from the first birth compared to the unemployed women, while it was the opposite in the case of the interval between the second and third births. Previous studies have indicated that the education level of women is a significant influential factor in birth intervals, while no such significant correlation was observed in this study. Furthermore, it could be inferred that the Sunni and non-Persian women needed more attention as a vulnerable population, and they should be properly trained on the importance of adequate birth intervals. These women also need more attention to raise their awareness regarding adequate birth intervals. By adopting and implementing the necessary training courses in vulnerable women, the issues associated with birth intervals could reduce, which in turn promotes the general health of these women and their infants.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors influencing on rural women participation in agricultural activities in the villages of Jiroft Township. A survey method was used to conduct this research. This research was a descriptive-correlative research. Statistical population of this research was rural women of Jiroft Township (N=38794). Krejice and Morgan Table was used to determine the sample size (n=380). A stratified random sampling method was implemented to select samples. The data collection tool was a structured questionnaire that its validity confirmed by a panel of experts. Furthermore, in order to assess the reliability of the research tool, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated to test the reliability of different parts of questionnaire (0.73≤α≤0.82). Descriptive statistics results showed that women's participation in agricultural activities is high. The results of correlation analysis showed that economic, social, attitude, cultural, motivation, education and extension, educational level of women, household size and women's age factors have significant relationship on women participation in agricultural activities. Multiple-regression results showed that independent variables 67 percent of dependent variable were explained.

The purpose of this descriptive- analytical research was to assess the success of Micro Finance Program (MFP) of rural women. The research instrument used was a questionnaire that its validity was established by a panel of experts and its reliability was confirmed by a pilot-test. Cronbach alpha coefficient gained was (0.84). The target population were rural women in Ghaem-shahr Township who were members of micro-credit funds (N=225). A stratified sampling technique was used through Krejcie and Morgan’s Table to determine the sample size (n=114).The descriptive result of research indicated that the success of these funds was satisfactory as perceived by the respondents' viewpoints. The inferential statistics results showed that there was a positive significant relationship between social, educational, cultural, and personality characteristics of respondents and the success of micro-credit funds. The findings of the bivariate regression revealed that 50.1 percent of variations in the dependent variable were by social, cultural, and personality characteristics of respondents. Having training programs for members and motivating participants to participate in developing and delivery educational programs were among main suggestions provided in this research.

The present research was conducted on the typology of mental models of rural women for rural entrepreneurship development in Ilam province. The study deals with the subjective opinions of the participants based on Q methodology. It is applied in terms of goal as well as exploratory and mixed in terms of data collection. The participants of the study consisted of 26 successful female rural entrepreneurs selected by the targeted judgment method. The data were obtained through interviews and a literature review. As many as 49 phrases were selected as Q statements. The SPSS software was applied for data analysis. According to the results obtained from the exploratory factor analysis, the mentality of the participating rural women about promoting rural entrepreneurship was classified into six types including entrepreneurial, market-driven educational, economy-centered, environment-centered, participatory, and supportive types.

The findings revealed that about 31 percent of women were below and 69% were above the food poverty line. Comparison of averages of some variables including education status, employment (head of household), income, banking facilities such as credit and loans, property and assets, savings, economic skills, economic participation, government supports, husband's attitude, self-confidence, self-esteem, physical and mental healths showed that there are significant differences between poor and non-poor rural women. The discriminant analysis indicated that variables like husband attitude, self-confidence, and self-essteem correctly classified about 87.7 percent of rural women as poor or non-poor. Due to the husband's attitude had a significant role in differentiation of the two groups, the social and cultural education of rural men are recommended. Furthermore, the supporting sterategies that includes the distribution of food commodities, unemployment insurance and pensions, medical insurance and development of educational services for rural women is suggested.

The main purpose of this research was to examine the role of cooperatives functions in strengthening entrepreneurial characteristics and opportunity identification competencies of rural women in Kermanshah province. This study was conducted in a survey method using the views of 131 rural women members of rural cooperatives. The data gathering tool was a questionnaire that its validity was confirmed by a panel of experts in the field of entrepreneurship and co-operative and Cranach’s alpha method was used to calculate the reliability of the instrument that the values obtained showed the relevance of questions and items for different sectors of the questionnaire. Based on correlation coefficients, a positive and significant correlation was found between all aspects of cooperative functions with strengthening entrepreneurial characteristics and opportunity identification competencies of rural women as two dependent variables. Regression analysis also showed that the three functions of cooperatives like market supply and development, strengthening personal motivations and capabilities, and providing capital and production infrastructure can explain 58.2% of changes of strengthening entrepreneurial characteristics as dependent variable. Also 42.7% of changes in rural women’s opportunity identification competencies explained by three functions like market supply and development, providing capital and production infrastructure, and education and information related functions.

"Vareh" NGO is a long-standing spontaneity and has continued to function as a manifestation of the participation of rural women in empowering them for a long time. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the status of these cements, strengths and weaknesses and their impact on women's empowerment in rural areas of the central part of Roshtkhar County. The necessary information for the research was obtained through a semistructured interview with a selected sample of semen groups and fixed members (n = 20) and was compiled using the conventional coding process based on the basic theory. The results showed that the creation and continuity in arid and desert areas of villages with the predominant livelihood of small and traditional livestock and has social functions such as establishing justice, fairness and order and congratulations and cultural relations between peers and economic effects such as; It has led to time savings, profitability, a sense of authority and financial independence, and empowered rural women. At the same time, this NGO also faces challenges such as successive droughts and forage problems, the possibility of storing milk in the refrigerator and the development of machines for collecting and transporting milk to the factory, in reducing the importance and function of "Vareh". Has been effective. The permanence of this veteran NGO and the success of the real participation of women in it can be systematically applied and institutionalized in a pattern in the newly established and formal NGO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Achievement of sustainable rural development necessitates active participation of all stakeholders within these communities. Among the crucial components for progress and development in rural areas is the enhancement of manpower skills. Recognizing significant involvement of rural women in village production activities, growth of tourism in these regions presents a new opportunity for their engagement in development, thereby underscoring the importance of their empowerment. Empowerment has emerged as a fundamental aspect of sustainable development, wherein augmenting women's capacity and control over resources can be facilitated through tourism development. This research aimed to assess the role of community-based tourism in the economic, social, and cultural empowerment of women residing in the coastal villages of Bushehr Province. This study adopted a practical research approach with survey-based data collection. The research population comprised the residents of coastal villages in Bushehr Province. The sample size for this study was determined to be 400 individuals using Cochran’s formula. Statistical analysis, employing the one-sample T-test and utilizing AMOS and SPSS software, was conducted. The theoretical framework and the results of the statistical analysis employed in this research demonstrated the positive impact of tourism development on the economic, social, and cultural empowerment of women in the coastal villages of Bushehr Province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing identity for women, acquiring independence for them and active participation in different socio-economic affairs is an important factor in motivating of this huge human force in social production cycles. One of the most effective methods for developing personality and promoting intellectual and mental capabilities of women and therefore their active participation in group activities is involvement in cooperatives. Cooperatives can enhance women by promoting their knowledge and scientific capacities. Also they can provide an effective service through teaching the principals of cooperative development, team decision making methods and enhancing self-confidence. In this regard, this descriptive-survey-exploratory study was carried out to investigate factors affecting rural women participation in production cooperatives of southern Khorasan province. The statistical population of this research is 2491 rural women whom are members of production cooperatives. A number of 333 individuals were selected as sample through stratified sampling method and were studied. The results of correlation analysis showed that there is a significant and positive relation between socio-economic and organizational-functional factors of cooperatives and participation level of rural women. Also a negative relation was observed between women of high dependence to their husbands and their level of participation in cooperatives. The result of t test showed with 99% reliability that there is significance deference between rural women whom are the supporter of their family and those under their family’s support.

Abstract Background: The evaluation of the amount and type of edible oils can significantly help to raise the people’s awareness about how to use this type of food product. The aim of this study was to determine consumption pattern of various edible oils and its related factors based on PRECEDE model. Materials and Methods: This cross sectional descriptive analytic study was performed on 300 urban and rural women referring to health centers in Qom province. The participants were selected via multi-stage sampling method. The data were collected using standard questionnaire of PRECEDE model and analyzed by SPSS V.20 using independent t-test, paired t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficient. Results: The results of this study showed that 46.4% of urban women and 53.6% of rural women used solid oil. There was a significant difference between urban and rural households in terms of the consumption of tallow oil (p

Rural women participation in development projects often remains a motto due to the lack of attention to its subtleties and complexities.This study was aimed to investigate the appropriate strategies for real participation of rural women in development projects. To achieve this goal, women participation in three stages of access, benefit and empowerment was elaborated.In this study, which was conducted in 2020-2021year, due to the limitations created as a result of the Corona viruspandemic, the internet survey method was used. The statistical population (N= 71) included students and graduates of universities, faculty members, experts and managers of the Ministry of Jihad Agriculture who were randomly selected from the list of members of the Agricultural Extension and Education Scientific Association. Data collection instrument was a questionnaire whose validity and reliability was confirmed. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software 22.The results showed that there are six main strategies for achieving women participation in development projects, including planning based on women individual characteristics, planning based on cultural and social issues, planning for the development of education, media content and ICT, Forming special women's groups and networking, access to financial resources, the possibility of participating in micro-credit schemes, and finally promoting government policies and the performance of organizations. Prioritizing strategies for achieving women participation in development projects can vary in three stages. Formation of special groups for women and networking had high priority in all three stages of participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In the recent decades, some villages of Iran have had a feminine texture, the reason for this is immigration of men. Immigration of men from rural areas to metropolises mainly increased by virtue of various economic factors such as unemployment in villages, low income, seasonal unemployment and small size of farmlands. In this regard, the role of social policy making has been highlighted in order to create jobs and support key manufacturers in rural areas. In this research, we explored the role of women in two villages (Ghale Ghafe Bala and Kafsh Mahalle) located in the Golestan Region. These women succeeded in creating green jobs in their villages and eventually achieved sustainable livelihood after an empowerment process and improving human capabilities, recognizing geographical and environmental resources, and application of indigenous knowledge. In this study, we adopted the approach of Amartia Sen in human capabilities in order to solve the poverty and unemployment issue in the villages. The research methodology is case study, involving exploiting participant observation and in-depth interview techniques. The research results indicated that rural women could change the villages by grouping, increasing social participation, improving their capabilities, increasing agency capacity change and creating small and local community banks among rural groups. They could achieve sustainable livelihood and play an important part decreasing unemployment and poverty. Keywords: Green Jobs, Unemployment and Poverty, the Human Capability Approach, Rural Women, Social Policy Making, Participation

Improving agriculture, the environment and other sectors in need of passive defense that can effectively help to complete the chain of defense is in the improvement of the agricultural sector. This study is applied for the purpose of gathering data descriptive population study of rural women in two villages in the central city of Bavi Khuzestan Tlbovmeh Salieh and the sample size of 736 persons was estimated by using Morgan 250. The data in this study was obtained using a questionnaire designed for the faculty members of the University of Agriculture and Natural Resources of Ramin Khuzestan and the quotas were distributed randomly. Data were analyzed using the software described. Descriptive statistics and coefficient of variation in the average rate in the inferential statistical correlation test, Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the average F. The results of descriptive statistics showed that more rural women with primary education and familiar with the environment are very young and have a lot of faith, but their participation in solving environmental problems is very low. Based on the results of the correlation, age and education level of rural women in their understanding of the importance of agricultural activities passive defense is effective. The results of the test showed that in the comparison between age and level of education, rural women who are young and highly educated with a broad vision have a variety of agricultural activities in the context of agriculture that are passive

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs (in empowering the members of production cooperatives rural women in Tehran Province. The research was a survey in the form of descriptive research (methodology was applied research based on the purpose and in terms of data collection was descriptive-correlation). The research population included all women members of rural production cooperatives in Tehran Province which had 835 members. According to Cochran formula, 146 people were selected by the use of simple random sampling with probability proportion. The main instrument was a questionnaire which its Cronbach's alpha coefficient estimated between 0.79-.95. Thus, according to research findings there were significant relationship in 99% level among factors such as availability, reliability, collaboration, familiarity with information and communication technology, and the age with empowering rural women members of production cooperatives in Tehran Province. The regression results indicated that familiarity with ICT and accessibility had positive role on the level of empowering rural women members of production cooperatives and these variables explained 55.6 % of the variance of the dependent variable.

Introduction Following population growth and increasing demand for food, agricultural systems have been considerably altered across the world. Nonetheless, the majority of these changes have been accompanied with many consequences by reason of focusing on economic growth and ignoring the relation between humans and environmental wellbeing. Thus, it seems that any future increase in food production should be done in a sustainable way which considers various issues. Based on this viewpoint, understanding the importance of diverse women’s roles and addressing gender equality are indisputable preconditions for achieving sustainability in the agriculture sector. Women significantly affect the welfare and sustainability of farmer households through numerous tasks assigned to them by societies. However, women do not have the same rights as men in access to productive resources because of gender-based norms. Although the sustainability of agricultural systems has been evaluated by many researchers, they rarely used gender-based analyzes in their assessments. Hence, we aim to determine women’s participation in various agricultural systems and evaluate the impact of women’s activities on the sustainability of agroecosystems in Iran by using a comprehensive approach. Materials and Methods To explore answers to our research goals, a specific questionnaire was utilized, and its validity and reliability were approved by experts and the Cronbach’s alpha test, respectively. We used the purposive sampling method to identify townships and villages and applied the simple random sampling technique to select farmer households. Based on different methods and the results of pre-test surveys, 930 farmer households were considered as the appropriate sample size in this study. Because there are different climatic conditions, agricultural products and subcultures in Iran, this study was carried out in all 31 provinces of Iran to cover differences between regions. The sustainability of farmer households was assessed by applying 15 indicators. Then, scores attained by farmer households were simplified to define three principal thresholds for sustainability: unacceptable (scores≤ 1.5), limited (1.5

Introduction: Iron deficiency is the most common and widespread nutritional disorder in infants and children around the world. In developing countries, between 40 and 50 percent of children under 5 years of age suffer from this problem.The aim of this study was to predict iron deficiency anemia preventive behaviors of children by mothers of children 6-1 years covered rural centers of Babol City in 2015. Methods: In this analytical-descriptive study, 267 mothers having children 6-1 years covered houses rural health centers in Babol City were selected by the multistage random sampling. Data were collected by the self-report method through a questionnaire including the demographic information, dimensions of the Health Belief Model (HBM) and performance. The data were analyzed by using test correlation, and regression. Results: The mean age of the mothers were 29.85±55.5 years. Most mothers (49.1%) have education at high school level. Among models, perceived benefits and perceived barriers had the highest score (81.05) lowest score (45.75), respectively. In regression analysis for prediction behaviors, the variables: self-efficacy, perceived barriers and practice guide were detected as the predictor’s variables. These variables could predict totally 19% of behavior’ changes (P

Social entrepreneurship knowledge is critical for transforming the development of rural society and can be a good ground for the development and empowerment of women in rural areas. This study aims to analyze the factors affecting the entrepreneurship of rural women and present a paradigmatic model of social entrepreneurship development of rural women in Varamin County. The research method used in this research was qualitative, and among the conventional qualitative methods, the Grounded theory method was used. Participants included 11 experts and women entrepreneurs who were members of the Rural Micro Credit Fund of Varamin County who were selected and studied using the purposive sampling method. The primary way of data collection was semi-structured interviews that continued until the theoretical saturation point was reached. MAXQDA 12 software was used for data analysis and information processing. Internal validity of the research was measured using professors' points of view and long observations, external validity was measured by describing the obtained data, and the reliability of the study was measured by the triangulation method. The results showed that the most important critical aspect in social entrepreneurship is the socio-cultural aspect and then psychological aspect, economic aspect, environmental aspect, technology aspect and legal-political aspect, respectively. The relationship between the influential factors and the development of women's social entrepreneurship was presented in a paradigmatic model. A paradigm model including the components of causal conditions, contextual conditions, intervening conditions, interactive strategies and consequences for the development of social entrepreneurship of rural women was presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of the labor force engaged in rice cultivation within the province of Guilan consists of rural women who possess extensive practical expertise in their respective fields; thus, their presence assumes particular significance. Women show the rituals of rice farming, i.e. planting, planting and harvesting, in performing rituals such as the Ghasemababdi dance, which, in addition to visual appeal, express a spiritual and mythological bond with nature. The purpose of this study is to provide an answer to the question of the significance of women's presence in Ghasemababdi dance in relation to rice farming rituals, which is raised in light of the crucial role that women play in this dance and the implementation of rice farming customs. The current research is theoretical in nature and methodology, with a descriptive and analytic approach serving its purpose. The method of data collection is library and field using the method of ethnography in the region, observation, interviews, registration, and the recording of information. Research indicates that women perform Ghasemababdi dance while demonstrating gratitude for the blessings of rice cultivation and adherence to its principles through the use of a variety of manual skills. In other words, the Ghasemababdi dance serves as a reflection of cultural diversity and human thought. It is through this form of movement that women joyfully demonstrate the concept of cereal making patterns; thus, they have acquired a legendary status. Therefore, as a mother goddess equivalent to Anahita, the mother of man and the mother of the earth, they are considered and worshiped. In other words, the continuation and extension of life and the aliveness of the role of women is embodied in the unconscious of a person in order to transmit blessing, bonding and healing

Geography as an interdisciplinary science that always trying to play their proper role in development process, it has been focused so much attention on the women as half of development power. This research with interdisciplinary approach is trying to analyze influence of ICT on empowerment of rural women in the central part of LAHIJAN eparchy. Then applied the explanatory approach. Field studies and questionnaire technique also is used. Research hypothesis is based on that the ability of ICT explains part of rural women Empowerment. But the power levels at different stages, it is not homogeneous and harmonious and Welfare stage is stronger than the other stages. For last analysis, Factor and regression analysis were used. Research findings indicate that analysis supports the hypotheses. Finally, the conclusions were based on research findings were presented.

Political participation refers to voluntary activities undertaken by the mass public to influence public policy, either directly or by affecting the selection of individuals who make policies and factors, and this important interest is done with the help of women's empowerment. The empowerment of women is not a new phenomenon; it has been mentioned in all countries of the world for various reasons. What distinguishes the current approach of women's empowerment from the traditional one is the shift from a focus on developing and promoting women's social welfare to a focus on empowering them to improve political participation from a political, economic, social and cultural perspective in the present age. The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of social empowerment on political participation of rural women in Tabriz County. The research method was a descriptive/correlational design of survey type. The statistical population in the study includes all rural women over 15 years of age in rural region of Tabriz County )N=31204). Then, 380 people using the Cochran's formula and simple random sampling method as the statistical samples were selected. The content and face validity of the instrument was specified after several reviews and correction by the faculty members at university and also several experts at administrative offices. The reliability analysis was conducted and Cronbach's alpha values for the various sections of the instrument were estimated to be between 0.79 and 0.89. The results of this study showed that except for two variables of social cooperation and social interaction, there is a significant relationship between the improvement of rural women’s political participation and all variables of social empowerment (social participation, social trust, social cohesion, social satisfaction, social responsibility, and social value). Rural women’s political participation can be enhanced by applying the results of the study and improving different elements of social trust, social participation, social cohesion, satisfaction, and responsibility. Through this, they can recognize their own agency and individual authority in deciding their own social destiny and try to keep it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Osteoporosis is a major public health problem. This study designed to assess peak bone mineral density (BMD), its onset in rural women in Kawar-Fars as well as prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis according to WHO and local reference values. Methods: In this cross sectional study , 266 healthy women aged 20-85 years from Kawar-Fars participated and they underwent Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scanning including two lumbar and femur regions. Results: Peak bone mass of lumbar spine occurred during 29±2 years. Also peak bone mass of total femur occurred around the age of 34±2 years. Prevalence of osteoporosis in lumbar spine according to WHO reference data was 29.7% but using Iranian normative data was 10.5%. Also using WHO reference data, prevalence of osteoporosis in total femur in rural women was 15.4% whereas according to the Iranian normative data was 16.2%. Conclusion: This study provided a baseline normative data of BMD for rural Iranian women. Also it showed prevalence of osteoporosis in rural women is more than urban women.

هدف اصلی این مقاله بررسی عوامل مؤثر بر توسعه‌ی کارآفرینی روستایی در استان سیستان و بلوچستان می‌باشد. بدین منظور در ابتدا پیشینه‌ی تحقیق همراه با تحقیقات صورت گرفته در این زمینه مورد بررسی قرار گرفت. سپس بر اساس بررسی نظری، متغیّرهای " ایجاد مراکز رشد روستایی"، " توانمندسازیزنانودخترانروستایی" و " توسعه‌ی فناوری اطلاعات و ارتباطات در روستاهای استان سیستان و بلوچستان"، به عنوان عوامل مؤثر بر توسعه‌ی کارآفرینی روستایی، در روستاهای استان سیستان و بلوچستان شناسایی شد و بر همین اساس پرسشنامه‌ای با هماهنگی و استفاده از نظرات خبرگان طراحی گشت و در اختیار نمونه‌ی 140 نفری از جامعه‌ی آماری دانشجویان مقطع کارشناسی ارشد دانشگاه‌های استان قرار داده شد. داده‌های جمع‌آوری شده بعد از کدبندی از طریق آزمون آماری رگرسیون چندگانه با استفاده از نرم‌افزار آماری SPSS و مدل معادلات ساختاری با استفاده از نرم‌افزار Lisler مورد تحلیل قرار گرفت. در هر دو روش به اعتقاد مشارکت‌کنندگان در تحقیق حاضر، متغیّرهای توانمندسازی زنان و دختران روستایی استان و توسعه‌ی فناوری‌های اطلاعات و ارتباطات در روستاهای استان با توسعه‌ی کارآفرینی روستایی ارتباط معنی‌داری ندارند اما متغیّر ایجاد مراکز رشد روستایی در روستاهای استان با توسعه‌ی کارآفرینی روستایی رابطه معنی‌داری دارد.

Today, many literary works can be analyzed from the perspective of feminist criticism. The main issue of the current research is the feminist criticism of two contemporary novels by two women writers with female literature, one is "Topchanar" by Ansieh Shah Hosseini1 and "And Others" by Mahbouba Mirqadiri2. The importance of the topic is the need of the current society, especially women, to be informed about the realization of their rights, as well as the value of the two mentioned novels, one in the field of rural literature and the other in the field of urban literature. The most important question ahead; What is the position of women in both rural and urban societies in the two mentioned novels and what is the approach of women to achieve their rights? The research hypothesis is the existence of patriarchy and the violation of women's rights in both novels and its acceptance by women. Some of the most important results of this research, which were provided in a descriptive-analytical way by comparing the two mentioned novels, are; Cases of the loss of women's rights in the rural novel "Topchanar": Disagreement with the continuation of girls' education, dissatisfaction with the birth of a daughter and marrying a child as a wife, but the first character is a hero who, despite poverty, actively It deals with personal and social problems. In the urban novel "And Others", while there is not much material poverty, there is still the neglect of women by the society and by themselves; Anonymity, not being important, being subservient to men, feeling shame and guilt due to puberty, sense of emptiness due to not having children. In this novel, unlike the previous one, the presence of passive women can be seen, especially the main character who seems to have accepted patriarchy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suicide is one of the oldest phenomena of human societies, and since it must be studied and understood within the framework of social psychology of each society and its subcommunities, so far an important part of social studies of suicide has been focused on suicide in nomadic and rural areas. For several years, the significant number of suicides and especially women's self-immolations in the Dishmuk region of Kohgiluyeh and Boyar Ahmad provinces has been widely reflected in the media. This research sought to study and investigate suicide in this rural-nomadic area by using the qualitative method of phenomenology in Georgi's style and using semi-structured interviews. The research sample is purposeful and consists of people who have had an unsuccessful suicide or one of their relatives has committed suicide leading to death. In understanding the interviewees' perceptions of the causes and contexts of suicide attempts in this region, the researchers divided them into five main categories: 1) lack of knowledge and life management skills; 2) lack of satisfaction with private life; 3) reaching a feeling of dead end and getting stuck in social life; and 5) the personal aspects and the superficiality of some religious beliefs have been reached, each of which has been separated into more detailed concepts in the findings section and documented with quotes from the interviewees. Finally, these categories are compared with some of the theoretical literature on suicide, and the authors provide suggestions for suicide prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suicide is one of the oldest phenomena of human societies, and since it must be studied and understood within the framework of social psychology of each society and its sub-communities, so far an important part of social studies of suicide has been focused on suicide in nomadic and rural areas. For several years, the significant number of suicides and especially women's self-immolations in the Dishmuk region of Kohgiluyeh and Boyar Ahmad provinces has been widely reflected in the media. This research sought to study and investigate suicide in this rural-nomadic area by using the qualitative method of phenomenology in Georgi's style and using semi-structured interviews. The research sample is purposeful and consists of people who have had an unsuccessful suicide or one of their relatives has committed suicide leading to death. In understanding the interviewees' perceptions of the causes and contexts of suicide attempts in this region, the researchers divided them into five main categories: 1) lack of knowledge and life management skills; 2) lack of satisfaction with private life; 3) reaching a feeling of dead end and getting stuck in social life; and 5) the personal aspects and the superficiality of some religious beliefs have been reached, each of which has been separated into more detailed concepts in the findings section and documented with quotes from the interviewees. Finally, these categories are compared with some of the theoretical literature on suicide, and the authors provide suggestions for suicide prevention.

Background and purpose: Nowadays, quality of life (QOL) has become an important issue because of the development of societies and the improvement of living standards. The aim of this study was to survey the Health-related QOL in Kermanshah rural women and some related factors. Material and methods: Our target community was selected among 20-50 years old women from 20 villages of Kermanshah county by multistage cluster sampling (n: 394), and our tool was WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. The data were analyzed by SPSS software and ANOVA, Independent t-test and Linear Regression test. Results: The mean age of respondents was 32.94±8.98 years. The mean of QOL in Physical, Psychological, Social and Environmental domains was (61.55, 53.22, 60.58, 47.94), respectively. Based on linear regression test, the most effective factors on the four domains of women's QOL were as follows: Physical Health domain (illness status, age, developmental level of the village (DLV), marriage status) (R² =0.236), Psychological Health (illness status, marriage status, educational level, DLV) (R² =0.185), Social Health (illness status, DLV) (R² =0.105) and Environmental Health (illness status, DLV, educational level, marriage status) (R² =0.170). Conclusion: Based on our data, the level of quality of life was moderate. This study is the first research about Health-related QOL in rural women of Iran; therefore, its findings can provide useful information in this group and be used for designing later studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]