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In the past. four decades, the Iranian women have witnessed enormous social changes. Prior to the Islamic Revolution the changes
were implemented with a top-down approach in the context of modernization theory with growth strategy. The outcome was a stratum of the educated women within a society characterized by socio-economic
gaps.
Gender sensitive indices in the last twenty years show some improvements as well as shortcomings. The changes in the women's situation can be discussed in two social classes:
1. The elites: They are educated, often employed, and more outgoing women.
2. The traditional women: They are mostly housewives, more religious, and less educated.
Both the exogenous and indigenous forces have been influential in these changes, in which the educating young women and the function of
the mass media are the most important ones among the indigenous
forces.
The impact of these changes, for the first class, has been cognitive dissonance while the second class has experienced different patterns of norms and more widespread social relations. Thereby, the Iranian women demand a higher social status, and expect to participate in decision-making in their society. This is a new process and during the next decades, one may encounter the rising expectations of the Iranian women