Investigate and identify the challenges of the relationship between industry and academia

In order to achieve the goals of real and sustainable development, every society needs the interaction and continuous action of two scientific and technical institutions that are formed in the form of universities and industry. Due to the organic relations of these two institutions that form a single system, a violation in each of them causes a violation in the whole system. The present study tries to identify the challenges and barriers of the relationship between industry and academia from the perspective of industry managers and university professors with an interpretive approach. The research approach used is qualitative methodology and ethnographic method has been used to conduct research operations. The data of this study were collected using participatory observation, semi-structured interview technique and document analysis and then combined using triangulation technique. The sampling method used in this study is qualitative-purposeful sampling and using the theoretical saturation index, 15 university professors and 10 industry managers were interviewed as a research sample. Their attitudes and views on the challenges and barriers to communication between industry and academia were examined. The main findings of this study using contextual theory include categories such as weakness in context and support, lack of knowledge and skills, lack of efficient management system, reluctance to communicate, lack of appropriate culture and beliefs, inflexibility of structure. Processes are the inability to network. According to the research, all these categories can be placed under the category of industry-university relationship challenge.