دکتر محسن نظرزاده زارع

The present study aimed to identify professional boundaries in the relationship between professors and students through a qualitative content analysis. Hence, 36 (20 students and 16 faculty members) were selected using purposive sampling method with maximum variation. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews, and analyzed through inductive content analysis. The rigor of the findings was examined through member check, triangulation, and reflexivity. The results showed that the professional boundaries in the relationship between professors and students include: emotional boundaries (avoiding emotional and romantic relationships and maintaining respectful behavior), communication boundaries (transparency in communication and maintaining privacy), and power boundaries (transparency in power boundaries and avoiding discrimination and differentiation).

IntroductionDialogical leadership and organizational brilliance are emerging concepts in management and leadership, particularly in the field of human resources management, which holds special significance in today's competitive organizational environment. The open and two-way communication approach of dialogical leadership fosters collaboration among organization members, which can enhance the organization's competitiveness, employee satisfaction, productivity, and cost reduction, and ultimately lead to organizational brilliance. In recent years, Iranian higher education managers have noticed the need for an internationalization approach and competition with foreign universities, as well as domestic competition to attract more resources and achieve better performance. In this context, adopting new leadership styles such as dialogical leadership and focusing on organizational commitment can be effective in achieving excellence and subsequent organizational brilliance. By promoting open communication and collaboration with faculty members, staff, and students, dialogical leadership can increase organizational commitment in the university context, which in turn can enhance the brilliance of the university organization. Despite considerable research on the relationship between dialogical leadership style and organizational brilliance in various organizational contexts, there is still a gap in research regarding the investigation of this leadership style's impact on organizational brilliance in the academic context. Additionally, the mediating role of organizational commitment in the relationship between dialogical leadership style and organizational brilliance requires further investigation, especially the exact role of this factor in this relationship in the academic context. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the impact of the dialogical leadership style on organizational brilliance through organizational commitment in the context of Iran's Farhangian University, which plays a significant role in training expert human capital for Iran's education system.MethodologyTo achieve the study's main objective, a descriptive-correlational approach using structural equation modeling was employed. The study population comprised all faculty and non-faculty employees of Farhangian University of Iran, totaling 980 individuals. Using Cochran's formula and stratified sampling method, 276 participants were selected for the study. Three questionnaires were used to collect data on dialogical leadership, organizational brilliance, and organizational commitment, with reported reliabilities of 0.97, 0.95, and 0.81, respectively, based on Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Descriptive and inferential statistical methods were used for data analysis, using SPSS and Lisrel software.Results and DiscussionThe study's first hypothesis revealed that the dialogical leadership style has a positive impact on organizational brilliance at Iran's Farhangian University. This means that the university's leaders and administrators can achieve human resource excellence by engaging in open communication, exchanging ideas and information, and actively listening to key stakeholders. The second hypothesis of the study demonstrated that the dialogical leadership style has a positive and significant effect on the organizational commitment of Farhangian University employees in Iran.  Dialogical leadership can predict a significant percentage of employees' organizational commitment, and aligning individual employee goals with the university's goals can increase employee autonomy, accountability, and loyalty through effective communication processes. The third hypothesis of the study indicated that organizational commitment has a positive and significant impact on organizational brilliance at Farhangian University in Iran. Organizational commitment can significantly predict excellence in organizational resources, capabilities, and knowledge management, as organizational brilliance focuses on the university's resources and competencies. The fourth hypothesis of the study showed that the dialogical leadership style has a positive and significant impact on the organizational brilliance of Farhangian University in Iran through the organizational commitment of employees. This impact is strong enough to predict organizational brilliance through the two constructs of dialogical leadership and organizational commitment. A leadership style based on interaction, negotiation, and collaborative decision-making can improve employee organizational commitment, leading to improved organizational brilliance.ConclusionIn conclusion, the study's findings highlight the significant impact of dialogical leadership on both organizational commitment and organizational brilliance at Iran's Farhangian University. The study suggests that university managers can enhance organizational commitment and brilliance by encouraging faculty and staff participation in decision-making and planning processes. This approach not only increases organizational commitment among the university's main stakeholders but also leads to an overall improvement in organizational brilliance. The study concludes that dialogical leadership can be an effective leadership style for universities to adapt to changes and achieve excellence in the highly interconnected world.

Organizational bullying and organizational silence as organizational phenomena can lead to burnout and psychological stress in people. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the effect of organizational bullying on teachers’ job burnout through the mediating role of organizational silence.

To achieve this goal, a descriptive-correlational method was employed, relying on structural equation modeling. The study population consisted of all female elementary school teachers in Kermanshah City. A sample of 275 teachers was selected using the cluster sampling method based on the Krejcie and Morgan table. Data were collected through three questionnaires measuring organizational bullying, organizational silence, and teacher burnout, with reported reliabilities of 0.876, 0.865, and 0.898, respectively, based on Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Data analysis utilized descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean) and inferential statistics (correlation coefficient, Sobel test).

The findings revealed that organizational bullying has a significant and positive effect on both organizational silence and teacher burnout. Additionally, organizational silence has a positive and meaningful impact on teacher burnout. Furthermore, organizational bullying has a positive and significant impact on teacher burnout through organizational silence as a mediator.

According to the results of the study, it can be concluded that establishing an atmosphere free from threats and bullying in schools can not only lead to the formation of a space for greater interaction and participation of teachers in school affairs but can also help to reduce job burnout among them.

Portraiture is a qualitative research method derived from ethnography and phenomenology. This approach seeks to describe, understand, and interpret complex human experiences by consciously integrating positive features of both phenomenological and ethnographic methods to create valid and more precise portraits of research participants. In other words, the portraiture research method seeks to combine artistic storytelling and scientific accuracy in research. While initially deployed within the realm of education and educational leadership, the portraiture research method has transcended its origins and found applications in diverse disciplines, including social work, nursing, health, psychology, and criminology. Consequently, this article aims to acquaint readers with the structure, principles, and applications of the portraiture research method in the realms of the humanities and social sciences.

The decreasing demand for STEM majors poses a significant challenge in Iran and has implications for the country’s development. Graduates in STEM fields play a vital role in the progress and growth of a nation. This study aims to identify effective strategies to tackle the crisis of decreasing demand in STEM majors within Iran’s academic system. To accomplish this objective, a mixed-methods, sequential-exploratory approach was employed. The qualitative phase involved a case study methodology, conducting semi-structured interviews with 15 knowledgeable individuals. Practical solutions emerged from this phase. In the quantitative phase, the classical Delphi technique was used to validate these solutions. A questionnaire, based on qualitative findings, was distributed to 13 experts to achieve consensus. Statistical analyses, including Kendall’s correlation coefficient, median, average, and quartile deviation, were employed to analyze the quantitative data. Both qualitative and quantitative findings reveal consensus among experts on nine significant solutions to address the decrease in demand for STEM majors in Iran’s academic system. These solutions include merging small local universities with larger provincial universities, emphasizing the importance of the Document of Higher Education Survey, fostering interdisciplinary sciences, enhancing collaboration with local industries and communities, prioritizing problem-oriented and applied research, attracting foreign students from neighboring countries, improving quality standards, aligning curricula with labor market needs, and providing free and virtual training courses.

The main objective of this article was to analyze Iran's upstream documents in the field of recruitment, promotion, and service compensation of research faculty members in order to assess the challenges and problems existing in these documents and subsequently provide suggestions for overcoming them.

In the present study, the symptomatic reading method was used which is one of the research methods in the field of social sciences. In the symptomatic reading method, sampling is not necessary. Based on this, all of Iran's upstream documents regarding the system of recruitment, promotion, and service compensation of research faculty members were selected. The analysis of the documents was carried out by initially categorizing and classifying the explicit statements in the text of each of these documents regarding the system of recruitment, promotion, and service compensation for research faculty members. Then, by re-examining the texts of these documents, the researchers proceeded to articulate the points or unsaid aspects that were not addressed in each of the top documents regarding the system of recruitment, promotion, and service compensation of research faculty members.

The findings of the analysis were categorized into two main categories including what was spoken and what was not spoken in the existing documents. Then, based on these findings, policy proposals were presented.

Considering that the mission and framework of research centers differs from those of universities in Iran, it is essential to pay serious attention to the recruitment, promotion, and compensation of the faculty members in research centers. It is not possible to apply a uniform and fixed procedure in this regard.

The relationship between university and industry and consequently their effects on innovation processes have long been analyzed in various scientific communities. The importance of this connection has caused some of the documents of the Islamic Republic of Iran to refer to it. According, one of the most important steps in the recent policy of the Ministry of Science of Iran doing the compulsory sabbatical related to the industry for newly recruited faculty members in higher education organizations and research institutes. Thus, the present study tried to explain the recent policy of the Ministry of Science, based on an institutional perspective.

To achieve this, 17 faculty members of universities and research institutes in Iran who were faced with this policy, as main beneficiaries by intensity case sampling method and according to the theoretical saturation of the data was selected. The tool of the study was a semi-structured interview. To analyze the interviews, we used the Colaizzi content analyze and to examine the validity of the research findings, the member checking method was used.

The Findings of the analysis showed that the policy in relation to the industry has faced some issues such as illegitimacy, coercion, consistency with the interests of policymakers, ignoring disciplinary differences, ignoring economic, sociology, and policy conditions. These issues indicate that the policy is based on the policy created in the oligarchic institutions.

The position of decision-making and planning in Iran's higher education system is not well defined. Hence, there is a lack of understanding between the policymaking and decision-making institutions regarding the mission of universities and governance in Iran's higher education. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to analyze the detrimental effects of the divergent policymaking institutions in Iran's higher education system. To achieve this aim, a qualitative approach by the case study type was used. The participants in the study included 15 connoisseurs from universities and research institutes in Iran, who were selected using purposeful sampling by snowball method and theoretical saturation in the findings. The data collection tool was a semi-structured interview. To analyze the interviews we used the inductive content analysis method. To check the credibility of the findings, we used two strategies; member checking and peer checking.The findings obtained from the inductive content analysis of the interviews showed that the detrimental effects of the divergent policymaking institutions in Iran's higher education system are created by parallel work between the policymaking institutions due to the lack of clear boundaries of duties and missions, the absence of a single policymaking authority in Iran's higher education system, the dominance of political and party orientations in the approaches of policymaking institutions, the lack of long-term policies in the field of science and technology due to the instability of management caused by the change of governments and finally priority of Institutional interests and policies over national interests and approaches.

Institutions usually bring the technologies they need from their surrounding environments into the organization. Therefore, a university as one of the important social institutions, under the influence of the electronic revolution and the emergence of new technologies in its surrounding environment, has moved towards the use of multimedia systems and electronic education; however, the use of electronic education, despite countless opportunities, has also brought major problems and challenges, some of which have been mentioned in previous studies, including the lack of face-to-face communication and interaction between the educator and the learner. Hence, the solution offered in e-learning to face this problem is the blended learning approach. Studies have shown that various factors such as educational, environmental, institutional, and organizational factors are effective in applying blended learning, and not paying attention to any of them can cause the failure of this type of teaching and learning. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of institutional factors on the use of blended learning by the faculty members of Malayer University.

The present study was applied research in terms of purpose, cross-sectional in terms of time, and in terms of method of collecting the required data, it adopted a descriptive-correlation design using structural equation modeling. The statistical population of the present study included all the faculty members of Malayer University with the number of 153 people. Due to the limited size of the research community, all faculty members were tested, and finally, 140 faculty members participated in the study with a return rate of 92%. The tools of data collection were questionnaires of institutional factors and blended learning. For data analysis, descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean) and inferential (correlation test and path analysis) methods were used in SPSS version 22 and Smart PLS version 6 statistical software.

The findings obtained from the statistical analysis of the data indicated a positive and significant impact of the normative factor with a path coefficient (0.151) on the use of blended learning by the faculty members, and the mimetic factor with a path coefficient (0.413) on the use of blended learning by faculty members, and the coercive factor with a path coefficient (0.362) had an impact on the use of blended learning by faculty members. Also, the measurement and fit indices of the model indicated its appropriateness.

Overall, the study showed that institutional factors (normative factors, coercive factors, and mimetic factors) have a great impact on the use of blended learning by faculty members. Hence, considering the following suggestions can help to institutionalize the use of blended learning in the academic context, namely the establishment of regulations and internal laws regarding the use of blended learning in the teaching-learning process at universities, more culturalization in the use of blended learning in the teaching-learning process by faculty members, imitating successful universities and institutions in the field of implementing blended learning, training faculty members on how to apply blended learning in teaching, encouraging more faculty members to use blended learning, and finally considering more educational privileges for the use of blended learning in teaching by faculty members.

Unethical pro-organizational behaviors as actions for the organization's or its members' interests, despite violating social, and moral values, laws, or behavioral standards. Undoubtedly, behind every unethical pro-organizational behavior a motive or motives that caused such behavior to appear in the interests of the organization or its members. Hence, the main aim of the present study was to identify the factors influencing the formation of unethical pro-organizational behaviors in the academic context.

To achieve this purpose, an exploratory sequential mixed approach was used. In the qualitative phase, we used a phenomenological method to extract the factors influencing the formation of unethical pro-organizational behaviors. Hence, 22 experts were selected using the quota sampling method. The tool used to collect data were a semi-structured interview and the seven-step process of Colaizzi. In the quantitative phase, the classical Delphi technique was used to credit the extracted factors. In this technique, a questionnaire was designed based on the extracted factors in the qualitative phase and distributed among 12 experts, to obtain their consensus about the extracted factors. The quantitative data were also analyzed using statistical methods such as Kendall’s coefficient of concordance, measures of central tendency, and dispersion in SPSS software.

The findings obtained from the qualitative and quantitative phases showed that the experts had reached a consensus on the eight important factors of the formation of unethical pro-organizational behaviors in the academic context which included organizational etiquette, organizational structure, managerial approach, lack of academic autonomy, party and political exchanges, legal weakness, personal opportunism and parochialism, and thinking limitation.

The general conclusion of this study showed that in the academic context, compared to the context of other governmental and non-governmental organizations, individual, organizational, and environmental factors play an effective role in the formation of unethical pro-organizational behaviors. Hence, holding knowledge-building workshops to raise the awareness of the organization's individuals about unethical pro-organizational behaviors in the academic context. Strengthening the culture of transparency around the consequences of unethical pro-organizational behaviors in the academic context and accurately identifying unethical pro-organizational behaviors in the regulations and internal rules of a university should be considered by the top of a university.

Commercialization of academic research has become a popular interest in most countries of the world. Because the process of commercialization of academic research plays a significant role in the economic development of societies, Thus, universities and higher education institutions are expected not to limit their functions only to teaching and research but also to take a part in production and economic value creation. This function is called the commercialization of research products (CRP). Some studies have shown that on the one hand, cultural and social factors and on the other hand, organizational, financial, and economic factors have a close relationship with the CRP. This evidence shows that it is not enough to formulate policies for CRP, but also providing internal and external infrastructures is a crucial factor.

What are the obstacles which are preventing CRP in Iran’s academic system?

2.1 Policy-making Approaches in Organizations
Nowadays, what differentiates successful and unsuccessful organizations is not necessarily a quantitative issue. Rather, is a qualitative one, so the nature of the obstacles which the organizations are confronted is the main issue. To clarify the kind of obstacles that hinder CRP, we used Okumus’s conceptual model of Implementing a strategy. The model has four variables: content, context, process, and outcome. The meaning of the content is the strategic orientation that the organization chooses and seeks to follow. Context factors include all the physical, social, and cultural contexts of the organization in which strategies are implemented. The process also includes all the ways and methods that the organization undertakes to implement and operationalize its strategic plans. Finally, the outcome includes all the achievements that the organization achieves after implementing the strategy. In general, we are facing two approaches, the first approach is the strategic evolutionary cycle and the second is the vicious cycle of formalism.

In the present study, the researchers used a qualitative approach and an emergent design, which is one of the designs used in the grounded theory method. The study population included all the key informants in the field of CRP. A total of 9 key informants were selected through the theoretical sampling method and by relying on the theoretical saturation. An unstructured interview method was also used to collect data. Member check was also used to credibility the research data. To analyze the research data, first, open codes were extracted from the interviews and then summarized and reduced to axial codes. After conceptualizing and reducing the axial codes, a selective theme was extracted.

The findings of this study showed that the cultural, economic, academic major, educational, process, contextual, and individual barriers are obstacles to the commercialization policy of research in Iran's academic system.

Instead of taking the strategic evolutionary cycle, the Iranian academic system has taken the vicious cycle of formalism. Thus, most of the policymakers of Iran's higher education system also have a transformational desire in their mind. This view is caused problems in Iran's academic system; because the main strategic path is ignored.

Only economic and social institutions can be comprehensive that provide the necessary platforms and fields for the linkage of universities with the industry and the commercialization of research. Inclusive institutions are institutions that allow wide participation of individuals in their economic and political spheres and encourage individuals to use their talents and have creative ideas and thoughts. Such institutions need to protect private property, and legal systems without bias and provide social services. In such conditions, universities can undertake a strategic evolutionary cycle. It is not surprising that the capabilities that have been proposed for the commercialization of research include factors such as evaluating technological innovations, protecting intellectual property rights, identifying business partners, and creating a platform for creating ideas and producing new technologies. All of these find meaning in inclusive institutions; hence societies that have monopolistic economic and social institutions are unable to provide such platforms, and this is the reason why industry-related projects also face failure in those societies. For this reason, academic research in such societies does not turn into actions or cannot achieve social achievements.

The authors appreciate all the faculty members who participated in the research.

The mission and functions of each research institute are different. One of the challenges that research institutes face is the same process of recruiting, promoting, and services compensating their faculty members regardless of the mission of each institute. Therefore, the existence of a common standard for evaluating all faculty members is far from reality and can reduce the quality of the institutions' achievements. Thus, the aim of the study was to design a pattern for attracting, promoting, and services compensating for faculty members according to the mission-oriented framework of each research institution.

To achieve this aim, a qualitative survey research method of deductive type was used. The study population included all the faculty members working in Iran's research institutions, from which 50 people were selected as a sample.  The tool used in the study was an open-ended questionnaire,

deductive content analysis was used to analyze the data. To accredit the patterns obtained, we used a focus group method. Hence, 11 specialists in the fields of recruitment and promotion in each of the five institutions were selected as participants in the focus group.

Conclusions and suggestions:

The findings of the study showed that some of the extracted indicators and components are common in each of the five patterns. Therefore, a common conceptual model was obtained for all institutions, in addition, five patterns based on the characteristics and mission of each of the institutions were obtained. Finally, based on the findings, four scenarios were presented to achieve mission orientation in research institutions

Innovation and originality: 

Accreditation and development of a model the orientation of research institutions

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of digital leadership style on teachers’ digital teaching with the mediating role of psychological empowerment. To achieve this purpose, the descriptive-correlation method was used by the structural equation modeling. The research population consisted of all the teachers in public and non-public schools in Khodābande city (N= 956), from whom, 274 teachers were selected as sample, according to Krejcie & Morgan's table and using quota sampling. The research tool consisted of three questionnaires including the digital leadership of ISTE (2014), the digital teaching of Hamzah, Nasir, & Wahab (2021), and the psychological empowerment of Spritzer & Mishra (1997). To analyze the data, the researchers used two softwares, i.e., SPSS (Version 26) and Smart PLS (Version 3). Findings showed that the digital leadership style has a direct and significant effect on two variables: digital teaching (β=0.89) and psychological empowerment (β=0.65). Also, psychological empowerment has a direct and significant effect on the digital teaching of teachers (β=0.82). Finally, digital leadership with the mediating role of psychological empowerment has an indirect and significant effect on digital teaching (β=0.24). Based on the research findings, it could be said that the success of digital leadership style in teachers’ digital teaching requires culturalization in the use of digital tools in the teaching-learning process, providing the infrastructures necessary to teach teachers, and increasing the competency, skill, and confidence of teachers in the use of digital tools in the teaching-learning process.

The present study aim was identifying the reasons and consequences of students' silence in the classroom. Therefore, a qualitative approach and an exploratory grounded theory method was used. The research population involved students of the public universities in Tehran who were selected 25 of participants by criterion sampling and theoretical saturation in the findings. Research tool was a semi-structured interview and for the data analysis the content analysis method in three stages, open coding, axial coding and selective coding were used. In order to get assured of the validity of the data, two methods of member-checking and peer -checking were used. The findings showed that the factors and consequences related to student’s silence in the classroom can be categorized six factors and consequences, the factors related to the instructor, student and organization, as well as the consequences related to instructor, student and organization.

The present study aimed to analyze the challenges of the virtual education system in Al-Zahra University during the COVID 19 pandemic crisis. So, the researchers a qualitative approach by descriptive phenomenology were used. The target population was students and faculty members of Al-Zahra University. The researchers 20 faculty members and 30 students by purposive sampling the type of criterion method and based on the saturation of the findings selected. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed by inductive content analysis. For the data validity, member checking and peer checking method were used. Findings showed that out of 380 codes were extracted; 210 codes were related to the challenges of the virtual education system from the students' point of view and 170 codes were extracted related to challenges from the faculty members' point of view. Therefore, the challenges of the virtual education system in Al-Zahra University from the perspective of students and faculty members in six categories were classified including; time challenge, infrastructure, and support services challenge, motivation challenges, and prerequisite skills challenge, technical and social challenges. Considering the policies of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology regarding the use of the integrated method in postCorona, it is necessary to remove these challenges. Therefore, it is suggested that Alzahra University use alternative systems, such as BigBlueButton software, which is a software completely Persian and easier for users to work with that. Also, the cost prioritization of university budgets should be planned based on the unexpected crisis of Covid 19 and the essential needs of e-learning. To reduce infrastructure challenges the university should be considering the strategies such as buying or renting auxiliary servers and support policies for example allocate low-interest loans to students and faculty to provide facilities. Preparing elearning regulations and understanding educational expectations and monitoring their implementation can reduce the challenges of time and social interactions. To reduce and eliminate the challenges of prerequisite skills, the preparation of a training package and a guide to working with the e-learning system and the need to pay attention to the important discussion of mentoring is necessary.

The outbreak of the Coronavirus posed a serious crisis to commercial and educational organizations and institutions. In the face of such a crisis, the transition from face-to-face to virtual education was one of the strategies of educational institutions, especially schools, and this caused increased additional work pressure on teachers as one of the pioneers of the teaching-learning process. Thus, in the face of such a situation, school leadership plays a very effective role in increasing the efficiency of individuals and reducing the tensions caused by rapid environmental changes. One of the leadership styles that can help school leaders achieve this is to use of an ambidextrous leadership style. Ambidextrous leadership is a new type of leadership style that consists of two different spectrums of leadership behaviors and uses open and closed leadership behaviors in a balanced and complementary way to deal with environmental changes. Ambidextrous leadership is related to increasing organizational agility and performance and means the ability to use both hands with the same power. Ambidextrous leadership can have many effects on self-efficacy, job attitude, etc.; so, the research on the effect of this style of leadership has been considered by many researchers in recent years. Given the lack of research on this style of leadership, especially in educational settings in Iran, the need for doing such a study was felt. Accordingly, the main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of ambidextrous leadership on teachers' job satisfaction and stress in virtual education with the mediating role of psychological empowerment.

To achieve this aim, the researchers used the correlational research method by structural equation modeling. The statistical population of the study included all primary school teachers in Takestan city. Considering the uncertainty of the actual number of teachers, we selected the maximum sample size (335 teachers) by using simple random sampling. Data collection was performed by using the ambidextrous leadership style questionnaire, the psychological empowerment questionnaire, the job satisfaction questionnaire, and the job stress questionnaire. Data analysis was performed by the statistical technique of structural equation modeling (confirmation path analysis) and Pearson correlation test in two statistical software SPSS and AMOS.

The findings of the study indicated the open leadership style on empowerment (0.637) had a significant and positive effect, the closed leadership style on empowerment(0.365) had a significant and positive effect, the empowerment variable on job stress (0.313) had a significant and negative effect, the closed leadership style on job stress (0.314) had a significant and negative effect, the open leadership style on job stress (0.449) had a significant and negative effect, the empowerment variable on job satisfaction (0.224)had a significant and positive, the closed leadership style on job satisfaction(0.350) had a significant and positive, the open leadership style on job satisfaction (0.235) had a significant and positive, also the job stress on job satisfaction (-0.327) had a significant and negative effect. Findings also revealed that the closed and open leadership style had an indirect and significant effect on job stress and job satisfaction through the empowerment variable, and the empowerment variable had an indirect and significant on job satisfaction through the job stress variable. In addition, the measurement and fit indices of the model also indicated the desirability of the model.

Overall, the results of the study showed that by using both ambidextrous leadership and empowerment in schools, we can reduce teachers' job stress and subsequently increase their job satisfaction. Therefore, this style of leadership can be used as a useful tool for effective leadership in schools.

Nowadays, teamwork in higher education institutions is considered one of the best strategies for interaction and participation of students in the learning process as well as the development of their communication skills. While recognizing the benefits of teamwork can create a positive understanding among faculty members, and students, but some factors can prevent the creation of teamwork and low desire to work in a team in the academic system. These factors can also reduce its benefits and positive effects. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the challenges related to teamwork among students.

To achieve this purpose, a qualitative approach by deductive qualitative survey method was used. Participants included students of educational sciences from Alzahra and Malayer Universities who had teamwork experience during academic life which was a total of 142. Thus, the researcher selected 114 of them by purposive sampling from the type of criterion method and based on the criterion of having experience in teamwork. The research tool was an open-ended questionnaire based on teamwork theory which was designed in Google Form. To analyze the data deductive content analysis method was used. To validate the findings, a peer checking method was used.

Findings showed that teamwork challenges in the students' academic activities can be divided into eight main components and seventeen sub-components including: adaptability challenge (non- adaptability with team rules and regulations, resistance to changes, lack of knowledge about each other, and resistance to team opinions), backup behavior challenge (lack of cooperation of team members in distributing work pressure, inappropriate distribution of work among team members), mutual performance monitoring challenge (disapproval of mutual supervision, acceptance the supervision of team just by leader, lack of existence of mutual supervision), team orientation challenge (priority of individual goals over team goals), team leadership challenges (incompetence of team leader, lack of existence a leader in team, disobedience of members from team leader), mutual trust challenge (lack of mutual trust between team members), shared mental models challenges (lack of shared understanding of team tasks), closed-loop communication challenge (lack of interaction and communication between team members, lack of exchange of information between team members). Based on the research findings, if we want to use teamwork in students 'academic activities, we require more participation of faculty members by developing instructions for doing teamwork, assessing students' readiness to do teamwork, and determining the exact objectives of teamwork.

The present study was an exploratory sequential mixed method approach, so the qualitative section of the study was done by descriptive phenomenology method. The participants in the qualitative section included academic administrators with managerial experience who by criterion sampling and saturation in the research findings, 12 were selected for the interview. Research tools in the section were semi-structured interviews and the data analysis was by thematic analysis. In order to get assured of the validity of the data in the section, member-checking was employed. The findings of the qualitative section showed that the challenges of boundary-spanner academic leaders can be categorized into three main categories: individual, organizations, and environment. In the second section of the study; given that the purpose was to validate the main and sub-themes of the qualitative section, so a quantitative survey strategy was used. To collect quantitative data, a researcher-designed questionnaire was applied consisting of 15 questions on a five-point Likert scale and including individual, organizational and environmental challenges. The reliability of the questionnaire was calculated Cronbach's alpha coefficient and was obtained for individual (0.813), organizational (0.861), and environmental (0.771) challenges.  For the data analysis, a One-sample t-test and Friedman test were used in SPSS16 software. The results of the section showed that considering that, the mean of individual challenge (4.25), organizational challenge (4.45), and environmental challenge (4.25) was higher than the theoretical mean (3); Therefore, from the perspective of academic administrators and leaders, the score of all dimensions of the challenges was above theoretical mean and based on the value of t at the level (p =0.01), the results were significant. So, each of the discovered dimensions in the qualitative section was highly agreed upon by the participants in the study. Also, the prioritization of the challenges was included, respectively, organizational, individual, and environmental challenges.

This study aimed to investigate the reasons for faculty members’ lack of interest in conducting interdisciplinary research in the fields of humanities and social sciences and to provide solutions for that. A qualitative case study method was hence used to achieve this goal. The research sample comprised 16 academic researchers and interdisciplinary authors who were selected and interviewed using theory-based sampling. The interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis method and the findings were credited using member checking and peer checking. The findings showed that the reasons for faculty members’ lack of interest in conducting interdisciplinary research can be divided into three general categories of institutional, organizational, and individual. Furthermore, institutional, organizational, scientific, and individual solutions comprise the four solutions for this issue.IntroductionInterdisciplinary research is currently considered the key to tackling the complex contemporary social challenges and the impetus for scientific innovation because scientific discoveries and innovations often occur at the intersection of disciplines. Academics are thus more likely to engage in research fields that surpass the traditional boundaries of their field (Sun et al., 2021). Most scholars believe that disciplinary research alone cannot cope with the complex challenges of societies, and competitive and knowledge-based economies, as well as pluralistic democracies (Bozic & Pohoryles, 2009). Thus, the issues and challenges facing contemporary society require the collaboration of several disciplines with different cultures, standards, and languages ​​(Boix Mansilla, 2016). Addressing interdisciplinary fields and interdisciplinary research is one of the policies and strategies of the Islamic Republic of Iran to accelerate and develop science, especially in the field of humanities. The Comprehensive Scientific Map of Iran proposes “supporting the development of interdisciplinary sciences and technologies”, and “creation and expansion of interdisciplinary subfields in humanities and other sciences” as part of national strategies and measures (Comprehensive Scientific Map of Iran, 2011: 47-61). However, despite the great emphasis on the necessity and importance of interdisciplinary fields and interdisciplinary research in Iran, its development, especially in the fields of humanities and social sciences, has brought challenges to the academic community. Considering that the proper development of interdisciplinary research in universities requires a change in scientific policy, institutional strategy, and research and development in universities by higher education policymakers, analyzing the reasons for Iranian faculty members’ lack of interest in the fields of humanities and social sciences can help to achieve this goal.Research question: What are the reasons for faculty members’ lack of interest in conducting interdisciplinary research in the fields of humanities and social sciences? What solutions can be proposed to increase their willingness to conduct interdisciplinary research?MethodologyThe present study aimed to provide a detailed explanation of the reasons for faculty members’ lack of interest in conducting interdisciplinary research in the fields of humanities and social sciences and to provide solutions for the problem. Such an explanation requires a careful study of the phenomenon from various aspects. Mertens and Wilson (2019) believe that the case study method is suitable for such explanations of the phenomenon under study because it allows the researcher to collect different types of data to better understand the phenomenon (p. 152). A case study focuses specifically on a phenomenon, event, issue, program, group, etc. (Mertens, 2015: 305). In the present study, researchers sought an in-depth analysis of the reasons for the lack of interest in interdisciplinary research and solutions to increase willingness among faculty members in the fields of humanities and social sciences through qualitative research. Hence, a case study method was used. Since the researchers used the inclusion criteria of having at least one written book or translated book published about interdisciplinary research or having at least two articles in this field, they used the theory-based sampling method to select the participants. In theory-based sampling, the researcher selects people who theoretically represent the desired phenomenon as a sample (Mertens, 2010: 222, 233). To this end, 16 academic researchers and interdisciplinary authors were interviewed as experts (individuals who were more knowledgeable about the research subject and had at least one written or translated book or two articles about interdisciplinary research). The research data collection tool was a semi-structured interview. The thematic analysis method was used to analyze the interviews. Two methods of member checking and peer checking were used to credited the research findings.Results Based on the thematic analysis of the interview, the themes and subthemes related to each of the reasons and solutions are presented in following.ReasonsThe reasons for faculty members’ lack of interest in conducting interdisciplinary research include the following three main categories:Institutional reasons include subcategories of weakness of academic disciplines, misunderstanding of interdisciplinary research, dominance of a disciplinary view in Iran’s higher education system, lack of supportive policies for interdisciplinary research, and centralization of Iran’s higher education system. Organizational reasons have subcategories of lack of reward and motivation systems, organizational cultural problems, disciplinary barriers, and structural problems. Individual reasons comprise subcategories of inherent barriers to interdisciplinary research, lack of interdisciplinary skills, and lack of motivation to do interdisciplinary research.SolutionsThe solutions to increase faculty members’ interest in conducting interdisciplinary research include the following four main categories:Organizational solutions have subcategories of structural review, strengthening the culture of interdisciplinary research among academics, and formation of interdisciplinary interactions in the academic community. Institutional solutions have subcategories of developing incentive policies and dominance of philosophy of higher education. Scientific solutions have the subcategory of dominance of philosophy of conducting interdisciplinary research. Individual solutions have the subcategory of nurturing and empowering interdisciplinary researchers.Discussion and conclusionOur findings showed that institutional, organizational, and individual reasons can be considered as the most important reasons for faculty members’ lack of interest in conducting interdisciplinary research. Institutional reasons refer to upstream institutions, including the Ministry of Science, and are beyond the will and authority of the university. Organizational reasons refer to the structure of universities as well as their management and culture. Finally, individual reasons refer to the personality traits and individual competencies of the faculty members. In addition to identifying the reasons for faculty members’ lack of interest, four solutions, namely organizational, institutional, scientific, and individual solutions were identified to increase the interest of faculty members to conduct interdisciplinary research from university experts’ point of view. Organizational solutions lead to elimination of or reduction in organizational barriers to conducting interdisciplinary research. Institutional solutions depend on changes in the policies of upstream institutions, including the Ministry of Science. The scientific solutions refer to the dominance of the interdisciplinary attitude toward academic research, which requires academics to be familiar with the nature and importance of interdisciplinary research. Finally, individual solutions seek to eliminate the weakness of faculty members in conducting interdisciplinary research and help to enhance their personal competencies in conducting interdisciplinary research. In conclusion, the increase in faculty members’ interest in conducting interdisciplinary research requires applying the presented solutions. Meanwhile, the efficacy of these solutions is enhanced when administrators’ attitude approves their application in universities.

Nowadays applying virtual education has become a main necessity during the Corona pandemic. For this reason, a large part of the medical community, especially medical universities, is using virtual education to continue their educational process during this crisis. Thus, the main purpose of this study is to identify the challenges and opportunities of virtual education based on the lived experience of faculty members and students of Dezful University of Medical Sciences during the Corona pandemic.

The study was conducted using a qualitative approach by descriptive phenomenology. So, using the purposive sampling method by criterion method, 20 students and 15 faculty members of Dezful University of Medical Sciences were selected by considering the saturation of the findings. The tool used for data collection was a semi-structured interview. To analyze the interviews, the Colaizzi seven-step content analysis method was used, and to evaluate the credibility of the findings, two methods by member checking and peer checking were used.

The analysis of the interviews showed that from the perspective of students and faculty members participating in the study, virtual education challenges were classified into three main categories; technical challenges, communication challenges, and content challenges. As well, from the perspective of two groups, the virtual education opportunities were classified into one main category including facilitation in education.

Holding to better virtual education requires the serious attention of managers and directors of the Dezful University of Medical Sciences to address the challenges of virtual education and provide the needed technology infrastructure

The effects of academic inbreeding on research productivity in each higher education system can be different. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the research productivity of inbred and non-inbred faculty members in the top three universities in Iran.

This quantitative descriptive study was performed using the scientometric method. The study population included inbred and non-inbred faculty members with the academic rank of assistant professor in the top three universities of Iran in the Shanghai ranking system based on an index of research productivity in three disciplinary areas of technical engineering, medical sciences and human-social sciences. Data were collected from the Scopus database.

The findings showed that inbred faculties (26%) had more publications than non-inbred ones. Furthermore, the citations and H-index of publications of inbred faculties were 24.4% and 5.1%, which were more than those of non-inbred ones, respectively. Non-inbred faculties compared to inbred ones were more successful in attracting research funding. Inbred faculties (40.26%) were more willing to intra-organizational collaboration and non-inbred faculties (13.54%) were more willing to collaborate internationally.

Overall, the results of this study indicated that the scientific effectiveness of inbred faculties was higher than that of non-inbred faculties. Moreover, the rate of obtaining funding for non-inbred faculties was higher than inbred faculties, and eventually, inbred faculties tended to collaborate within an organization, while non-inbred faculties tended to collaborate at the international level.

Nowadays, the application of the principles of lean higher education is considered as a strategy to reduce costs and wastes, and consequently improve the quality and effectiveness in universities. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate the concept of lean and principles of lean higher education in universities and higher education institutions in Iran and abroad. To achieve this purpose, a systematic review of past articles and reports between 2005 and 2019 was used. The results of this study showed that all studies conducted in Iran and abroad have supported the application of the principles of lean higher education. Although the study does not provide an in-depth analysis in this regard and only presents the aspects of the studies done, nevertheless, it can increase the understanding of academic administrators and change their attitudes in the importance of applying these principles. Based on the findings of this study, the implementation of the principles of lean higher education in the academic system of Iran requires a change in the mentality of academic administrators, compilation and review of academic strategic planning based on the five principles of lean, holding workshops about the lean higher education for academic staff and administrators and also, the establishment of an office called the Office of Lean Higher Education in universities.

Having interaction at the international level requires having the necessary competencies in this field. For this reason, a faculty member must have the necessary competencies in the international arena. Thus, the purpose of the study was to evaluate the competencies of faculty members of selected medical sciences universities in international interactions. 

This study was conducted with the quantitative approach by cross-sectional survey method.  ​In the study, 257 faculty members of the medical sciences universities of Tehran, Shiraz, Mashhad, Tabriz, and Esfahan in five clusters (North, South, East, West, and Center) by cluster sampling method and during four months in 2020 were selected. The tool used for data collection was a researcher-made questionnaire that was sent electronically to the faculty members byGoogle Form. The validity  and reliability of the questionnaire were confirmed by two experts in the field of competency and Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.84 respectively. The data by statistical methods including, measures of skewness and kurtosis to check the normality, also a one-sample t-test was used by SPSS were analyzed.

Of the 257 faculty members who participated in the study, 52.1% were male and 47.9% were female. Findings showed that the standard deviation ± mean of the component of professional competency was 0.5910±3.38,the communication competency 0.6709±3.08, the intercultural competency 0.5854±3.84, and the intellectual competency 0.5058 ± 3.61, ​and considering the value of t at the level (p = 0.01), these findings were significant.

Given the faculty members of selected medical universities have the necessary competencies in the field of international interaction, it seems to pay attention to the mechanisms such as concluding memorandums of cooperation with prominent foreign universities, as well as, considering more points for the faculty members 'international activities in the promotion regulations can help to increase faculty members' international interactions.

Academic inbreeding refers to the approch which universities recurit their graduates as a faculty member directly after doctoral graduation. The main purpose the present paper was investigation the concept of academic inbreeding and its challenges in recruiting faculty members in universities. To achieve this purpose, researcher used the document analysis method and qualitative content analysis to review the evidences about academic inbreeding. The findings showed that academic inbreeding face with challenges including: challenge of academic productivity, challenge of recruitment, and challenge of academic mobility. Thus, policy makers of higher education's systems in order to reduce this phenomenon in their universities should do these actions; banning recruiting own alumni until several years after graduation, revising the traditional methods for recruiting faculty members and moving toward approach of meritocratic in recruitment, fostering internationalization and international interactions in universities and academic departments, increasing academic mobility between inbred candidates, implementing clear procedures and practices for recruiting faculty members.