A Comparative Study of Women's Employment Policies in Two Scandinavian Countries (Sweden and Norway) and Two Muslim Countries (Iran and Turkey)

Human development indicators are one of the most important criteria for the development of societies. Since women make up half of the population of any society, their participation in development is very important. One of the most important fields of women's participation is economic participation. The current research has analyzed the policies of women's employment in Scandinavian countries (Sweden and Norway), Muslim countries (Turkey and Iran) and its consequences with a comparative policy research approach. The results show the greater participation of women in the economy of the Scandinavian countries, despite challenges such as the weakening of the family system in Sweden and the existence of restrictions such as the glass ceiling in Norway. The participation rate of women in the economy of Islamic countries is lower than that of Scandinavian countries. The important issue in Turkey is the high rate of people who are neither students nor employed (the highest rate among OECD countries). The rate of economic participation of educated women in Turkey (year 2018) is reported as 71% and for men as 89%, which shows the gender gap in this index. In Iran, higher education is one of the factors that facilitate the entry of women into the labor market and has led to a decrease in unemployment among urban women (3%) compared to rural women (1398). In Islamic countries, women's economic participation has been neglected; Therefore, the policies adopted in this field in Iran need to be reviewed.