Structural origins of the academic corruption in higher education in Iran

Mohammadian Sharif, K., Salimi, J., Azizi, N. and Mohammadi, S. (2020) Structural origins of the academic corruption in higher education in Iran. Journal of Educational Sciences, 27(2), pp. 159-182. (doi: 10.22055/EDUS.2021.33499.3031)

Abstract

Introduction: Today, academic corruption has become a common phenomenon in developing countries and entails huge costs for higher education. Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify the structural origins of academic corruption in Iranian higher education. Method: The research approach was qualitative and the research method was grounded theory which emerging design was conducted. The research population included all higher education experts and university professors which a total of 15 of them were selected through theoretical purposive sampling method and based on theoretical saturation. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect research data. Thematic analysis was conducted to analyze the data. The obtained data were validated using the member checking method. Results: The findings showed that the origins of academic corruption include economic origins (such as, misallocation of financial resources, poor living conditions and welfare in the whole society as well as the community of professors and academics), managerial origins (such as, lack and Weak meritocracy, Lack of adequate oversight of teachers' performance in the classroom), cultural origins (such as dominance of the culture of normalization of misconduct and corruption in the university, change in the attitude of the government to the issue of science and academia and knowledge), social origins (such as Student sociability, conditions outside the university) and political origins (such as the mass higher education, incorrect university policies, privatization). Finally, using the research findings, a model called the model of structural factors of academic corruption was presented. Discussion: The result indicates that weak structural origins cause to social crises. Therefore, anonymity of the structural factors will provide the ground for academic corruption.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Azizi, Professor Nematollah
• Authors: Mohammadian Sharif, K., Salimi, J., Azizi, N., and Mohammadi, S.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education
• Journal Name: Journal of Educational Sciences
• Publisher: Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz
• ISSN: 2008-8817
• ISSN (Online): 2588-672X
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran
• First Published: First published in Journal of Educational Sciences 27(2):159-182
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence