Analysis of Internal and External Governance of Higher Education System in Iran

The purpose of this study was to examine the internal and external governance of the higher education system in Iran. To achieve this goal, the qualitative approach was used. The statistical population of the study was senior managers and senior experts in educational and research departments. Based on theoretical data saturation, 11 of them were interviewed face to face. Semi-structured interview method was used for data collection and inductive content analysis was used for data analysis. The findings of the study showed that the major actors of the internal governance include the university chancellor, the board of directors, the council of the university, and the board of trustees, and the main actors of external governance are the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, the Expediency Council, the Supreme Council of the Science, Research and Technology, the Ministry of Science and Research and Technology and the Vice-President of Science and Technology Presidency. Also, components of the higher education governance system include actors (from the government, the market, or civil society) and policies (Intra-institutional policies such as financial policies, content policies and structural policies, and other policies such as social policies, entrepreneurial policies, and govermental policies). Then, each of the internal and external actors of the higher education system were examined based on their legal functions in accordance with the research framework.