Generational Change in the Academic Life of Iran (Case Study: University of Tehran, Tarbiat Modares and Shahid Beheshti)

Abstract
In recent decades, there have been changes in the University of Iran that are worth considering. The purpose of this study is a qualitative study of the generational changes of academics and its causes and consequences in the last half century. The research method is qualitative and the underlying theory is used. Samples were purposefully selected from among the professors of all three universities of Tehran, Tarbiat Modares and Shahid Beheshti. Data were saturated with 52 exploratory interviews and analyzed with Atlas IT software. The findings showed that ethics and adherence to academic norms are moving towards union affairs and promotion. Money and profit have gone beyond science. The method of socialization has been reduced from teacher-student to student-centered. Face-to-face emotional communication has become a face-to-face scientific interaction. The tradition of staying on campus has changed to off-campus activities. The result is that despite the similarities between the three generations, there has been a change in the academic lifestyle of academics, and the elite educational university is moving towards a mass university and a research entrepreneur. Monetization of science has affected its intrinsic values and quantity has overcome quality. 
Keywords: Generational Transformation, Scientific Life, University Professors, Scientific Norms, Contextual Theory.
 
1. Introduction
For a long time, there have been changes in academic life and academic work in Iran, and the educational and research performance of academics and their relationship with the society have become controversial. Some evidence suggests a change in academic values, academic norms or academic responsibilities. The topics developed in higher education cover a wide range of quantitative and scientific qualities, cultural responsibilities and social capital. For Iranian society, these issues are vital in a world where life has become smarter day by day. Therefore, it is necessary to study culture in the university environment.
The main Purpose of the current study is the changes created in the academic life of academics, which are studied from the perspective of university professors to answer the following questions: 1. What is the most important transformation of the generation of academicians in the last half century? 2. What are the factors and contexts that have been affected by the generations of academics affected? 3. What have been the main generations of academic generations in the midst of these developments? 4. What are the effects and consequences of these developments and strategies for the academic community?
 
2. Materials and Methods
The method of this research is qualitative and grounded theory was used to analyze the data. The studied population were professors of Tehran, Tarbiat Modares and Shahid Beheshti universities, who were divided into three generations based on age, academic membership history, and social orientation. To collect the data, the purposeful and theoretical sampling method was used and the sampling continued until the theoretical saturation was reached. Research data were collected through interviews with 52 professors; 19 people were selected from Tehran University, 21 people from Tarbiat Modares University and 12 people from Shahid Beheshti University. Atlas TI software was used for data classification, coding, combination and reduction of codes and theoretical model. In order to better compare the generations, the interviews of each generation were entered into a separate software environment and finally their output was compared and the final model was drawn and analyzed.
 
3. Data
Profiles of professors by gender, place of obtaining degree and field of study and scientific and research works of the interviewees (Table 1) were obtained according to the initial knowledge through the website of the universities under study and were completed during the interview and arranged by generation.
The findings and main concepts of the research, i.e. the common university culture in three generations, were extracted and categorized (Table 2).
The obtained categories represent the conditions, causes and attitudes and behaviors of the studied faculty members, which are described by generation and at the end of each generation, its theoretical model is drawn.
 
4. Discussion
The findings of the research were extracted, coded and categorized based on the main concepts, i.e. common academic culture in the academic and academic life of the studied professors in three generations. In total, 16 common core categories were extracted from three generations and categorized in terms of causal, environmental, contextual, strategies and consequences. All three generations agreed on the importance and impact of economic and financial issues as causal conditions in the scientific profession. The environmental conditions in the uncontrolled expansion of universities and the diversity of fields and the bureaucratization of the university have been the government’s policy. In the context, there were more male professors than female professors, and books, articles, and projects were very important to them. The first-generation professors were actively present in the university with a scientific lifestyle and tried to socialize students with ethical behavior and focus on education. The first-generation preferred science over wealth and were more focused on writing books and complained about the indiscriminate publication of articles, but later generations have worked more in the field of publishing articles and research projects. The professors of the second generation have become specialized and their presence in the university has gradually decreased and they have limited themselves to mandatory attendance. They paid attention to the material benefits of science and sought professional affairs and promotion. The third-generation professors, who were employed during the electronic revolution, did not pay attention to the socialization of students, and their academic interactions were mostly non-face-to-face. They mostly engaged in activities outside the university and sought to get research projects outside the university and establish a company.
 
5. Conclusion 
Changes have happened in the university and academics in the past three generations. The university is moving from government to privatization. The lack of professors and staff in universities is leading to a surplus of staff. The educational elitist university is moving towards a mass university and a research entrepreneur. Face-to-face interactions have become virtual. The increasing importance of research and generating income from science has affected its intrinsic value and quantity has overcome quality. Academic norms have faded and scientific and ethical standards have declined. Discipleship in the first generation has become student-centered in the third generation. Score orientation has overcome evidence orientation. Formal and friendly interactions have turned into informal and competitive interactions. Belief in generating wealth from science and knowledge and turning it into business to promote and manage life. The result is that the developments created depict “generational change” in scientific life.