Analyzing the Academic Challenges of Female Afghan Students in Tehran

Introduction
Education is a fundamental human right and a powerful driver of human progress. As societies have evolved, education has undergone significant transformations. Historically, authoritarian regimes have often imposed barriers to education to prevent people from recognizing injustices. However, human nature inherently seeks freedom, and ideally, there should be no obstacles to education. Yet, such obstacles have consistently existed, at times halting or slowing the educational process. Afghanistan, with its political and social upheavals over the past century, has experienced significant changes in its educational system at all levels—primary, secondary, and higher education—particularly affecting women. In some cases, women's education has been restricted or completely halted (Mahmoudi & Rezaei Ahvanouei, 2023: 74). Migration is a global phenomenon that occurs for various reasons. It can be categorized into types such as work, obtaining citizenship, education, political asylum, and tourism, which may be temporary or permanent. Each type of migration presents unique challenges that migrants must face during their journey. Educational migration is one such type, where students encounter problems due to differences between their country of origin and their destination. These challenges are multifaceted, encompassing social, cultural, economic, and other dimensions. This study aims to analyze the challenges faced by Afghan female students in Tehran. It seeks to identify and categorize these challenges from the students' perspective and to examine the factors that exacerbate or alleviate them.
Methodology
This research is qualitative, descriptive-analytic, and applied. It employs thematic analysis based on the framework by Braun and Clarke (2006). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 Afghan female students in Tehran until theoretical saturation was reached. The interviews were transcribed and coded in three stages: basic, organizing, and global.
Thirty final codes were extracted from the data. These include positive experiences, negative experiences, teacher-centered classes, unfamiliar environments, severe financial challenges, inappropriate treatment, anxiety about the future, weak communication skills, lack of job opportunities, discrimination, administrative and health challenges, political factors, socio-cultural factors, economic factors, Iran's economic problems, the Afghan government's policies toward students, Iran's social and media environment, awareness and cultural promotion, student resilience, economic solutions, expanded communication, Iran's advantages, peace of mind in Afghanistan, negative views of Iranian people, universities, lack of specific institutions, spontaneous student centers, lack of support from the embassy, and positive and negative perceptions.
In summary, each category of problems corresponds to its own set of factors. For instance, economic problems stem from economic factors. Key challenges identified include the weakness of the Afghan government, the Taliban's rise to power, political instability, a lack of mutual cultural understanding between Afghans and Iranians, Iran's economic situation, and the negative image of Afghans portrayed in the media.
Conclusion
The research findings indicate that each distinct challenge is rooted in its corresponding set of factors: political challenges stem from political causes, social challenges from social causes, and economic challenges from economic causes. The primary political challenge identified is the weakness of the Afghan government and its failure to support its students abroad. Cultural and social challenges are intensified by a general lack of understanding of Afghan culture among Iranians, as well as by the negative portrayal of Afghans in the media. These problems could be mitigated through initiatives aimed at educating the Iranian public about the realities of Afghan people and by fostering constructive dialogue to promote mutual understanding.