Document Type : Original research
Authors
1
Department of Sociology, Humanities Faculty, Tarbiyat Modares University,, Tehran, Iran
2
M.A in Sociology, Tarbiyat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
The problem of the relationship between industry and university in Iran has been the subject of research in numerous studies and one of the most frequent strategies to solve this issue is creating mediation mechanisms. In this research, using the method of grounded theory, a problem-based set of competitions of the National Elite Foundation called “Rahneshan” as a mediating mechanism with the function of facilitating communication between the actors in industry and university has been investigated. Rahneshan competitions include 54 projects defined by industrial companies that students undertake through the Rahneshan mediation. The main question of the research was why and how communications were established only in a few projects, while in most projects (more than 85%) no stable communications were formed. To answer this question, 15 projects were selected by the theoretical sampling method, then 30 semi-structured interviews with students and company leaders were conducted. The results were formulated, coded, and analyzed under the two headings of "Performers' Narrative" and "Project Definers' Narrative". Based on this analysis, three main factors, i.e., "motivational system", "time culture" and "valuation system" and four strengthening/weakening factors, i.e., “active leadership”, “accurate and appropriate definition of the project”, “company reputation”, and “the formation of social interaction” were identified. The findings of this study show that due to the mismatch in the three aspects, namely, "motivational system", "time culture" and "valuation system" between the two sides of this relationship, in most cases, no communications are established. In fact, one of the main reasons for the lack of success in this mediation mechanism is that people enter into a cooperation relationship with a previous and different institutional affiliation, and the incompatibility of this institutional affiliation in the three aspects mentioned causes the ineffectiveness of this mediation mechanism.
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