Introduction
Women have long been regarded as influential actors in the process of rural development, and their roles in rural areas have been extensively examined. However, most of these studies have focused on specific and limited themes, and no comprehensive and independent research has yet been conducted on their scientific status and representation in academic sources. This fragmentation has made it difficult, despite the large body of research, to obtain a comprehensive and coherent understanding of the subject. As a result, the likelihood of research duplication, overemphasis on limited aspects, and failure to identify scientific gaps and underexplored priorities has increased. Accordingly, there is a need for a comprehensive and systematic analysis of this topic. The present study therefore aims to provide a deeper examination of women in rural areas in the global scientific literature, identifying the main areas of focus, the roles and functions that have received the most attention, the capacities of women that have been most prominently represented, and the challenges that remain underexplored. The findings may help future researchers choose topics more purposefully and address the priorities and essential dimensions of rural women more effectively. In addition, these findings can assist policymakers and planners in allocating resources more efficiently and designing and implementing more effective interventions based on a deeper understanding of the current situation and real needs.
Materials and Methods
The research is limited in scope and, in terms of its objectives, is applied. However, the main approach of the study is based on Scientometrics and Bibliometrics research. This type of research relies on collecting data from academic databases and analyzing it using appropriate and relevant tools. In this study, scientometric and bibliometric indicators were employed to identify and analyze the topic of “rural women.” Therefore, all related articles on the topic “Rural Women” indexed in the Scopus database from 1904 to 2026 were analyzed. For extracting and visualizing the findings, the Bibliometrix library was used in the RStudio programming environment, along with VOSviewer.
Results and Discussion
While Women’s roles in national development programs have been recognized since the 1970s, the first scientific study on this topic was conducted in 1904. The significant growth of scholarly output in recent years also indicates that the topic of “Women” is now recognized as one of the scientific priorities in rural studies. In this regard, the largest share of funding for research on rural women has been provided by national institutions and international foundations based in developed countries, especially the United States. Likewise, the most important scientific centers include universities and research institutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and Bangladesh. This concentration of funding sources and scientific centers in developed countries reflects the global prioritization of issues related to rural women. However, the most important finding of the study was the identification of the main thematic areas in the scientific literature. Co-word analysis also showed that most studies have focused on the integration approach and the active role of women in rural development. In contrast, a number of studies have addressed the challenges, limitations, and vulnerabilities faced by rural women. Health-related issues, as well as Physical and Mental Health, Poverty, and Deprivation, reflect a marginalization approach to women. More recently, “domestic violence” has emerged as an innovative area for examining the social conditions of women in rural areas. In our country, however, this topic has been studied more extensively in urban settings. These findings can serve as a basis for researchers in our country to more precisely orient their future studies.
Conclusions
In recent years, the research approach to rural women has changed from a purely development- and health-oriented perspective to one focused on security, dignity, and human rights. This requires researchers in our country to conduct more targeted and problem-oriented research in rural areas.