شناسايي موانع نقش آفريني دانشگاه در توسعه محلي ( مطالعه موردي دانشگاه اصفهان)

The aim of this study is to identify the barriers to the role of universities in local development (a case study of the University of Isfahan). This research is applied in terms of purpose an‎d exploratory qualitative in terms of approach. In this study, using semi-structured interviews, the views of 10 professors an‎d experts familiar with the subject of local development an‎d the role of universities were collected. Participants were selec‎ted through purposive an‎d snowball sampling, an‎d the process continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. The data obtained from the interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis, an‎d ultimately, the components an‎d indicators related to the barriers to the university’s role in local development were extracted. Based on the results, the barriers to the university’s role in local development were classified into three domains: education, research, an‎d university–community interaction. Among the proposed items, some were emphasized more than others, including: the mismatch between curriculum content an‎d the needs of industry an‎d the local community, limited stakeholder participation in curriculum design, an‎d limited opportunities for experiential learning (internships, training courses, an‎d workshops) in the education domain; weaknesses in the commercialization an‎d transfer of research results to industry an‎d the local community, lack of alignment between theses an‎d research projects an‎d the real needs of the local community, an‎d insufficient motivation an‎d economic incentives for the formation of joint research between the university an‎d the local community in the research domain; an‎d the lack of clear an‎d supportive laws an‎d policies to regulate an‎d facilitate university–community interaction, weak culture of cooperation an‎d genuine interaction between the university an‎d external stakeholders, an‎d mutual distrust between the university an‎d the local community in the community engagement domain. Subsequently, a questionnaire consisting of 32 items was designed, an‎d the Content Validity Ratio (CVR) method was used to assess the validity of the items. Based on the validation results, one item was removed, an‎d the validity of the remaining items was confirmed. Ultimately, the findings of this study can provide a suitable basis for policymaking an‎d planning aimed at strengthening the role of universities in the process of local development.

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