11 ms·

Women make up 54% of new students entering Iranian universities

98 points by baylearn 7y ago

sasasassy 7y ago
I've heard the theory that in countries where women are more dependent, like Muslim countries, they have much higher levels of enrolment exactly to be able to escape their dependency on male family members. Similarly in poorer countries, like India and ex-Soviet republics, the enrolment for the sciences versus arts is larger than the rest of the world.
- TulliusCicero 7y ago
  At least in the US there are substantially more women in university than men: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/08/why-men-are-the-new-college-minority/536103/ https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/08/why-me... > Where men once went to college in proportions far higher than women—58 percent to 42 percent as recently as the 1970s—the ratio has now almost exactly reversed. > This fall, women will comprise more than 56 percent of students on campuses nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Some 2.2 million fewer men than women will be enrolled in college this year. And the trend shows no sign of abating. By 2026, the department estimates, 57 percent of college students will be women. Not sure how it is in other Western countries though.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
enjoyyourlife 7y ago
Working link:https://en.mehrnews.com/news/150023/Women-make-up-54-of-new-students-entering-Iranian-universities https://en.mehrnews.com/news/150023/Women-make-up-54-of-new-... For comparison, the University of California system is 52% female [1] and the California State University is 56% female [2]. [1]https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/fall-enrollment-glance https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/fall-enrol... [2]http://www.calstate.edu/as/stat_reports/2018-2019/fage01.htm http://www.calstate.edu/as/stat_reports/2018-2019/fage01.htm
- adventured 7y ago
  Nationally it's about 56% of students at university are women. Aug 2017, The Atlantic: "Where men once went to college in proportions far higher than women—58 percent to 42 percent as recently as the 1970s—the ratio has now almost exactly reversed." "This fall, women will comprise more than 56 percent of students on campuses nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Some 2.2 million fewer men than women will be enrolled in college this year. And the trend shows no sign of abating. By 2026, the department estimates, 57 percent of college students will be women." https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/08/why-men-are-the-new-college-minority/536103/ https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/08/why-me...
harperlee 7y ago
I suppose this is being upvoted as it goes against western preconceptions of irani society and women rights over there. When reading it, I remembered I visited Doha earlier this year and I was told that many more women than men go to university there, because for men it is vastly more likely to be socially acceptable to study abroad than for women. So that may also be playing a role here (or not; qatar is quite smaller, richer and more open than Iran) On the other hand in Europe also more women than men are entering university.
- daliusd 7y ago
  That's not the case with Iran. If you want to study abroad as Iranian you must either spend 10000€ (or something like that) to get permission to leave country or spent 3 years in the army. I'm simplifying with 10000€ but idea is that Iranians with their small salaries can not allow that. Joining military is not an option as well for some.
daliusd 7y ago
I was in Iran last year so let's give some perspective why this metric alone is useless: 1. Before university boys and girls learn in separate schools. 2. After university women have almost zero chances for career. It is more probably that they will end up being house wives. I doubt that this has changed in a year. I have not checked my facts - that's impression from speaking with open minded Iranian families (and we have met various families). Basically, university is one of the rare chances for women in Iran not to marry their cousin.
- tracer4201 7y ago
  One step at a time. Substantial cultural or institutional change doesn’t happen in a year or even five years. Anecdotally, the time lines are 20-30 years, if not more. Some countries move faster than others. I don’t think this metric is useless. No one is saying Iran is the bastion of women’s rights. But - More women achieving higher education is a good thing. The younger generations are certainly far more progressive from the anecdotes I’ve heard from Iranian friends.
  - daliusd 7y ago
    That's absolutely the case - but it depends on city. While we were in Iran we have met some very religious people. But we have met people with whom we could talk even about homosexuals' situation in Iran.
- skrebbel 7y ago
  I was born in 1983 in the Netherlands. My mom, and all my friends' moms, were housewives. About half of these moms were university educated or comparably. All their daughters now have proper jobs. Sounds like Iran is roughly in the same place now, which I assume is a big improvement over some decades ago. Just give it another generation. Anecdotally, I've tought some CS classes at the local university, to a highly mixed crowd. The Iranian students, every year, were somehow all female, and they were invariably among the top of their class. I'm going to be very surprised if these particular women turn out to become housewives.
  - 7y ago
quotz 7y ago
Actually, most of Western opinion about Iran is misguided and plain wrong. Iran is really not as terrible as all the propaganda about it. In fact its quite much like Turkey, except the politicians are better and its not as corrupt.
- daliusd 7y ago
  Turkey by Western standards is not heaven either ;-) While I agree that are a lot of myths and false assumptions about Iran.
  - cm2187 7y ago
    Well technically they are still in the process of joining the EU...
    - daliusd 7y ago
      Theoretically yes, practically nothing is happening: "Since 2016 accession negotiations have stalled.[7] The EU has accused and criticized Turkey for human rights violations and deficits in rule of law.[8] In 2017, EU officials expressed that planned Turkish policies violate the Copenhagen criteria of eligibility for an EU membership.[9] On 26 June 2018, the EU's General Affairs Council stated that "the Council notes that Turkey has been moving further away from the European Union. Turkey’s accession negotiations have therefore effectively come to a standstill and no further chapters can be considered for opening or closing and no further work towards the modernisation of the EU-Turkey Customs Union is foreseen."[10][11]" "20 February 2019 - EU parliament committee votes to suspend accession talks with Turkey." Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accession_of_Turkey_to_the_European_Union https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accession_of_Turkey_to_the_Eur...
    - shademaan 7y ago
      I've never believed that will never actually happen. For all of turkeys public relations efforts pushing their euro identify, European countries don't care for the Turks, don't identify with them culturally, and will never allow it. Erdogan doesn't help their cause either, obviously.
Yuval_Halevi 7y ago
Two months ago I went to a journey called the 'Mongol Rally' which is basically a race when you need to drive from the Czech Republic to Mongolia in a shitty car Because I'm from Israel my team couldn't get into Iran but other teams got into Iran and all of them were extremely surprised. Iranians know how to welcome tourists, they were extremely friendly, the food is delicious, the country is beautiful, and many people are open-minded. The problem in Iran is their politicians and the image created around the radical Iranian regime
- TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
  Politicians are just that class of criminals we’ve regulated well enough to keep the spotlight on them. Judging an entire nation by the ugliness of its politicians would be short sighted. We, us regular folk, have more in common with each other, with our global neighbours, than we ever will the ruling class. Not every US citizen is a Trump support, and not every Trump supporter is a buffoon. And Australian and UK politics are simply too embarrassing to even mention.
  - rayiner 7y ago
    That’s not true at all. The people are the ones who elect the politicians, remember? In Bangladesh where I’m from, if you’re an American tourist hanging out in areas full of western expats you might be get the wrong impression. But make no mistake. Outside those pockets, you’re in a country where 1/3 of people think people born into Muslim families should be executed if they leave Islam. 80% of women are beaten by their husbands. Where 22% of women are married by age 15. (On the flip side, many things Americans do would bring great shame to a Bangladeshi family.)
    - TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
      > That’s not true at all. The people are the ones who elect the politicians, remember? Don’t be so naive. In most democracies that I’m aware of, to win a politician only needs to win 51% of the vote. I’m in Australia and we have a preferential instant-runoff system[1] so it rapidly gets way more complicated than 51% majority, whereby most of our recent federal elections have been “won” by minority (less than 51%) parties forming a coalition. What you’re saying, then, is Bangladesh is full of savages and not to come there as a tourist, whereas it’s well know that Iran has a problematic government that frustrates it’s well educated, fairly ordinary, citizens. Edit to add: Trump didn’t win the popular vote neither; he won due to a quirk of the US electoral system. So I stand by my argument that we shouldn’t judge people by the politicians who claim to represent them. Edit to add: I just realised who I’m replying to. So now I have another question: why would you even write that? How do you get to being an appellate lawyer and think the political system wholly represents people’s beliefs? This is a genuine question. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_system_of_Australia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_system_of_Australia
babayega2 7y ago
I wish it was the same in my African country. Among the things that can make our population slow down a little (5.70 births per woman in 2016), higher education for women is the efficient one. In high school, girls where the majority but in after that ... they are in a drastic minority.
mehrdadn 7y ago
It used to be 70% in STEM, now it's 49% (edited to clarify): https://www.forbes.com/sites/amyguttman/2015/12/09/set-to-take-over-tech-70-of-irans-science-and-engineering-students-are-women/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/amyguttman/2015/12/09/set-to-ta...
- Dude2029 7y ago
  What a terrible sexism :(. At least things got a bit better.
- csomar 7y ago
  No. From the article > 70% of of Iran's science and engineering students are women This article talk about all universities and all fields. Not just science and engineering.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
sajithdilshan 7y ago
This news made my day. I hope this would be the norm in the whole world in next few decades. Especially in developing countries and whole middle east.
thinkingemote 7y ago
The Gender-Equality Paradox in STEM https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797617741719?journalCode=pssa https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/095679761774171... "...life-quality pressures in less gender-equal countries promote girls’ and women’s engagement with STEM subjects." The above paper didn't include Iran (I think?) but Tunisia, UAE, Algeria and Turkey all had the most proportion of women in STEM and the lowest gender equality out of all the countries. They are probably entering university not because Iran is friendly towards women and girls but because their society is unfriendly towards them. Iran certainly has a very low Global Gender Gap index. In the bottom 5 countries in the world. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2017.pdf http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2017.pdf
- curiousgal 7y ago
  I can only speak for Tunisia but the reason women go into STEM is purely economical. STEM jobs pay the most. The way I see it, a lack of women in STEM is a symptom of a healthy economy, who wouldn't want to not deal with spaghetti code if money was not an issue?
  - tasogare 7y ago
    > The way I see it, a lack of women in STEM is a symptom of a healthy economy Exactly. What is observable in Japan, where a decent job can still provide for a whole family, is that more than half of women choose to be stay-at-home mom. This is not a plot of "the Patriarchy" but something that make sense for them. On the other side, the current trend in the West to promote women and foreigner work under the diversity meme could be reasonably interpreted as scheme from the big companies to lower wages even further.
    - greggman2 7y ago
      is that the entire story? there is a pole every year whether a man could handle having a woman as a boss. In Japan it's still 70-80% say "no". Many Japanese women might choose to stay home but many effectively have few other choices more anecdata: a Japanese friend of mine moved back to Japan (Tokyo) after 10 years in the states to raise her 2 kids. She tried to get a job and was told "go home and take care of your kids" by several companies. She moved back to the USA after realizing how much she no longer belongs. note I've heard the idea the as a society gets more prosperous women seem to choose less STEM options. That might be true but I don't think Japan is a good example. Maybe China?
johnchristopher 7y ago
I have this vivid pictures in my mind of Iranian women attending universities, becoming doctors, lawyers, etc. from before the 80's. I wasn't born yet but I always have that contrast in the back of my mind when hearing news from Iran.
distant_hat 7y ago
Not all Islamic societies are against educating women. Another thing that sometimes happens in deeply patriarchal societies is that women are freer to engage in non-earning pursuits. So they study because they don't have to worry about supporting families but they wouldn't be allowed to work later on. It is also seen in India, e.g., where lots of women study but gender participation in the workforce has actually dropped in recent years because it isn't acceptable for them to work.
- apta 7y ago
  This is not a religious issue. As a matter of fact, Islam is pro-education regardless of gender. What we see from the likes of Taliban or AlQaeda and their likes is completely anti-Islamic in many ways.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
grimskin 7y ago
Why there are papers on the floor near each table on the photo in the article?
- stunt 7y ago
  Looking into their faces, Most of them are waiting, and some of them are trying to read those papers. So I assume there is an exam and those are questions and the the exam has not started yet when they took this photo. Probably they are only allowed to pick them up once exam starts.

98 points by baylearn 7y ago

I've heard the theory that in countries where women are more dependent, like Muslim countries, they have much higher levels of enrolment exactly to be able to escape their dependency on male family members. Similarly in poorer countries, like India and ex-Soviet republics, the enrolment for the sciences versus arts is larger than the rest of the world.

TulliusCicero 7y ago
At least in the US there are substantially more women in university than men: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/08/why-men-are-the-new-college-minority/536103/ https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/08/why-me... > Where men once went to college in proportions far higher than women—58 percent to 42 percent as recently as the 1970s—the ratio has now almost exactly reversed. > This fall, women will comprise more than 56 percent of students on campuses nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Some 2.2 million fewer men than women will be enrolled in college this year. And the trend shows no sign of abating. By 2026, the department estimates, 57 percent of college students will be women. Not sure how it is in other Western countries though.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

enjoyyourlife 7y ago

Working link:https://en.mehrnews.com/news/150023/Women-make-up-54-of-new-students-entering-Iranian-universities https://en.mehrnews.com/news/150023/Women-make-up-54-of-new-... For comparison, the University of California system is 52% female [1] and the California State University is 56% female [2]. [1]https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/fall-enrollment-glance https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/fall-enrol... [2]http://www.calstate.edu/as/stat_reports/2018-2019/fage01.htm http://www.calstate.edu/as/stat_reports/2018-2019/fage01.htm

adventured 7y ago
Nationally it's about 56% of students at university are women. Aug 2017, The Atlantic: "Where men once went to college in proportions far higher than women—58 percent to 42 percent as recently as the 1970s—the ratio has now almost exactly reversed." "This fall, women will comprise more than 56 percent of students on campuses nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Some 2.2 million fewer men than women will be enrolled in college this year. And the trend shows no sign of abating. By 2026, the department estimates, 57 percent of college students will be women." https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/08/why-men-are-the-new-college-minority/536103/ https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/08/why-me...

harperlee 7y ago

I suppose this is being upvoted as it goes against western preconceptions of irani society and women rights over there. When reading it, I remembered I visited Doha earlier this year and I was told that many more women than men go to university there, because for men it is vastly more likely to be socially acceptable to study abroad than for women. So that may also be playing a role here (or not; qatar is quite smaller, richer and more open than Iran) On the other hand in Europe also more women than men are entering university.

daliusd 7y ago
That's not the case with Iran. If you want to study abroad as Iranian you must either spend 10000€ (or something like that) to get permission to leave country or spent 3 years in the army. I'm simplifying with 10000€ but idea is that Iranians with their small salaries can not allow that. Joining military is not an option as well for some.

daliusd 7y ago

I was in Iran last year so let's give some perspective why this metric alone is useless: 1. Before university boys and girls learn in separate schools. 2. After university women have almost zero chances for career. It is more probably that they will end up being house wives. I doubt that this has changed in a year. I have not checked my facts - that's impression from speaking with open minded Iranian families (and we have met various families). Basically, university is one of the rare chances for women in Iran not to marry their cousin.

tracer4201 7y ago
One step at a time. Substantial cultural or institutional change doesn’t happen in a year or even five years. Anecdotally, the time lines are 20-30 years, if not more. Some countries move faster than others. I don’t think this metric is useless. No one is saying Iran is the bastion of women’s rights. But - More women achieving higher education is a good thing. The younger generations are certainly far more progressive from the anecdotes I’ve heard from Iranian friends.
- daliusd 7y ago
  That's absolutely the case - but it depends on city. While we were in Iran we have met some very religious people. But we have met people with whom we could talk even about homosexuals' situation in Iran.
skrebbel 7y ago
I was born in 1983 in the Netherlands. My mom, and all my friends' moms, were housewives. About half of these moms were university educated or comparably. All their daughters now have proper jobs. Sounds like Iran is roughly in the same place now, which I assume is a big improvement over some decades ago. Just give it another generation. Anecdotally, I've tought some CS classes at the local university, to a highly mixed crowd. The Iranian students, every year, were somehow all female, and they were invariably among the top of their class. I'm going to be very surprised if these particular women turn out to become housewives.
- 7y ago

quotz 7y ago

Actually, most of Western opinion about Iran is misguided and plain wrong. Iran is really not as terrible as all the propaganda about it. In fact its quite much like Turkey, except the politicians are better and its not as corrupt.

daliusd 7y ago
Turkey by Western standards is not heaven either ;-) While I agree that are a lot of myths and false assumptions about Iran.
- cm2187 7y ago
  Well technically they are still in the process of joining the EU...
  - daliusd 7y ago
    Theoretically yes, practically nothing is happening: "Since 2016 accession negotiations have stalled.[7] The EU has accused and criticized Turkey for human rights violations and deficits in rule of law.[8] In 2017, EU officials expressed that planned Turkish policies violate the Copenhagen criteria of eligibility for an EU membership.[9] On 26 June 2018, the EU's General Affairs Council stated that "the Council notes that Turkey has been moving further away from the European Union. Turkey’s accession negotiations have therefore effectively come to a standstill and no further chapters can be considered for opening or closing and no further work towards the modernisation of the EU-Turkey Customs Union is foreseen."[10][11]" "20 February 2019 - EU parliament committee votes to suspend accession talks with Turkey." Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accession_of_Turkey_to_the_European_Union https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accession_of_Turkey_to_the_Eur...
  - shademaan 7y ago
    I've never believed that will never actually happen. For all of turkeys public relations efforts pushing their euro identify, European countries don't care for the Turks, don't identify with them culturally, and will never allow it. Erdogan doesn't help their cause either, obviously.

Yuval_Halevi 7y ago

Two months ago I went to a journey called the 'Mongol Rally' which is basically a race when you need to drive from the Czech Republic to Mongolia in a shitty car Because I'm from Israel my team couldn't get into Iran but other teams got into Iran and all of them were extremely surprised. Iranians know how to welcome tourists, they were extremely friendly, the food is delicious, the country is beautiful, and many people are open-minded. The problem in Iran is their politicians and the image created around the radical Iranian regime

TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
Politicians are just that class of criminals we’ve regulated well enough to keep the spotlight on them. Judging an entire nation by the ugliness of its politicians would be short sighted. We, us regular folk, have more in common with each other, with our global neighbours, than we ever will the ruling class. Not every US citizen is a Trump support, and not every Trump supporter is a buffoon. And Australian and UK politics are simply too embarrassing to even mention.
- rayiner 7y ago
  That’s not true at all. The people are the ones who elect the politicians, remember? In Bangladesh where I’m from, if you’re an American tourist hanging out in areas full of western expats you might be get the wrong impression. But make no mistake. Outside those pockets, you’re in a country where 1/3 of people think people born into Muslim families should be executed if they leave Islam. 80% of women are beaten by their husbands. Where 22% of women are married by age 15. (On the flip side, many things Americans do would bring great shame to a Bangladeshi family.)
  - TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
    > That’s not true at all. The people are the ones who elect the politicians, remember? Don’t be so naive. In most democracies that I’m aware of, to win a politician only needs to win 51% of the vote. I’m in Australia and we have a preferential instant-runoff system[1] so it rapidly gets way more complicated than 51% majority, whereby most of our recent federal elections have been “won” by minority (less than 51%) parties forming a coalition. What you’re saying, then, is Bangladesh is full of savages and not to come there as a tourist, whereas it’s well know that Iran has a problematic government that frustrates it’s well educated, fairly ordinary, citizens. Edit to add: Trump didn’t win the popular vote neither; he won due to a quirk of the US electoral system. So I stand by my argument that we shouldn’t judge people by the politicians who claim to represent them. Edit to add: I just realised who I’m replying to. So now I have another question: why would you even write that? How do you get to being an appellate lawyer and think the political system wholly represents people’s beliefs? This is a genuine question. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_system_of_Australia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_system_of_Australia

babayega2 7y ago

I wish it was the same in my African country. Among the things that can make our population slow down a little (5.70 births per woman in 2016), higher education for women is the efficient one. In high school, girls where the majority but in after that ... they are in a drastic minority.

mehrdadn 7y ago

It used to be 70% in STEM, now it's 49% (edited to clarify): https://www.forbes.com/sites/amyguttman/2015/12/09/set-to-take-over-tech-70-of-irans-science-and-engineering-students-are-women/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/amyguttman/2015/12/09/set-to-ta...

Dude2029 7y ago
What a terrible sexism :(. At least things got a bit better.
csomar 7y ago
No. From the article > 70% of of Iran's science and engineering students are women This article talk about all universities and all fields. Not just science and engineering.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

sajithdilshan 7y ago

This news made my day. I hope this would be the norm in the whole world in next few decades. Especially in developing countries and whole middle east.

thinkingemote 7y ago

The Gender-Equality Paradox in STEM https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797617741719?journalCode=pssa https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/095679761774171... "...life-quality pressures in less gender-equal countries promote girls’ and women’s engagement with STEM subjects." The above paper didn't include Iran (I think?) but Tunisia, UAE, Algeria and Turkey all had the most proportion of women in STEM and the lowest gender equality out of all the countries. They are probably entering university not because Iran is friendly towards women and girls but because their society is unfriendly towards them. Iran certainly has a very low Global Gender Gap index. In the bottom 5 countries in the world. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2017.pdf http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2017.pdf

curiousgal 7y ago
I can only speak for Tunisia but the reason women go into STEM is purely economical. STEM jobs pay the most. The way I see it, a lack of women in STEM is a symptom of a healthy economy, who wouldn't want to not deal with spaghetti code if money was not an issue?
- tasogare 7y ago
  > The way I see it, a lack of women in STEM is a symptom of a healthy economy Exactly. What is observable in Japan, where a decent job can still provide for a whole family, is that more than half of women choose to be stay-at-home mom. This is not a plot of "the Patriarchy" but something that make sense for them. On the other side, the current trend in the West to promote women and foreigner work under the diversity meme could be reasonably interpreted as scheme from the big companies to lower wages even further.
  - greggman2 7y ago
    is that the entire story? there is a pole every year whether a man could handle having a woman as a boss. In Japan it's still 70-80% say "no". Many Japanese women might choose to stay home but many effectively have few other choices more anecdata: a Japanese friend of mine moved back to Japan (Tokyo) after 10 years in the states to raise her 2 kids. She tried to get a job and was told "go home and take care of your kids" by several companies. She moved back to the USA after realizing how much she no longer belongs. note I've heard the idea the as a society gets more prosperous women seem to choose less STEM options. That might be true but I don't think Japan is a good example. Maybe China?

johnchristopher 7y ago

I have this vivid pictures in my mind of Iranian women attending universities, becoming doctors, lawyers, etc. from before the 80's. I wasn't born yet but I always have that contrast in the back of my mind when hearing news from Iran.

distant_hat 7y ago

Not all Islamic societies are against educating women. Another thing that sometimes happens in deeply patriarchal societies is that women are freer to engage in non-earning pursuits. So they study because they don't have to worry about supporting families but they wouldn't be allowed to work later on. It is also seen in India, e.g., where lots of women study but gender participation in the workforce has actually dropped in recent years because it isn't acceptable for them to work.

apta 7y ago
This is not a religious issue. As a matter of fact, Islam is pro-education regardless of gender. What we see from the likes of Taliban or AlQaeda and their likes is completely anti-Islamic in many ways.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

grimskin 7y ago

Why there are papers on the floor near each table on the photo in the article?

stunt 7y ago
Looking into their faces, Most of them are waiting, and some of them are trying to read those papers. So I assume there is an exam and those are questions and the the exam has not started yet when they took this photo. Probably they are only allowed to pick them up once exam starts.