Tajik women are increasingly stepping into jobs once seen as strictly “for men” - from taxi driving and law to IT.
Yet entire sectors remain almost completely closed off to them. And the reasons go beyond official restrictions: deep-rooted stereotypes still shape what society considers “appropriate” work for women, The Caspian Post informs via Tajik media.
A Soviet Legacy That Still Shapes Careers
The roots of these bans stretch back to Soviet times, when women were prohibited from heavy or hazardous work to protect their health. For years, Tajikistan’s official list of “restricted” jobs for women included more than 300 professions. In December 2023, it was cut nearly in half - but still contains 194 banned jobs.
Despite this, many women do work in these fields, just not on paper. Their labor goes unrecorded and unprotected - meaning no insurance, no paid leave, and no pension.
photo: Asia Plus
A striking example is Jamila Saidova, from a remote village in Sughd. She spent over 14 years extracting coal shoulder-to-shoulder with male miners, including her husband. But officially, she was listed as a cleaner. She had none of the legal protections workers are entitled to. Leaving wasn’t an option - the mine was the family’s only income.
When Stereotypes Speak Louder Than Laws
Even in sectors without formal bans, women are often missing due to long-standing gender norms. Education plays a major role: only 15 per cent of girls aged 18-21 pursue higher education, compared to 30.5 per cent of boys. For many girls, access to modern, high-tech careers is blocked before the journey even begins.
UNDP data shows that only 26 per cent of women work in technical fields - and in some areas, their representation is as low as 0.7 per cent to 5 per cent. Employment overall tells the same story: 69 per cent of working-age women in Tajikistan are not employed.
Those who do work are often concentrated in low-paid sectors like agriculture, education, and retail. In agriculture alone, women make up 61.7 per cent of the workforce - but they earn significantly less than men.
Experts from the World Bank estimate that if women had equal opportunities and earnings, Tajikistan could boost its national income by nearly 63 per cent.
A Cycle That’s Hard to Break
The lack of visible female role models reinforces stereotypes from a young age. When girls grow up seeing almost no women in certain professions, those paths feel closed to them. Each generation inherits the same beliefs - and the cycle continues.
But as more women challenge these expectations and enter new fields, they are slowly reshaping Tajikistan’s workforce - and opening doors for the next generation.
