Current Status of Tehran’s Public Universities Based on Factors Affecting the Development of a Sustainable University

The purpose of this study was to investigate the current status of Tehran’s public universities based on factors affecting the development of a sustainable university. An exploratory mixed research method was chosen for this study. In the qualitative section, firstly, through semi-structured interviews with university specialists selected by chain referencing, the components influencing the development of sustainable universities were identified and categorized. In the quantitative section, the statistical population of the study consisted of faculty members of selected universities in Tehran. Using a randomized sampling method, 811 people were selected as participants in the study. To determine the validity and reliability of the data gathering tool (researcher-made questionnaire), the mean value of extracted variance, Cronbach's alpha and combined reliability were calculated by using PLS software. In order to confirm the fit of the structural model, the criterion of the determination coefficient and Aston Kaiser's criterion were used. In order to analyze the quantitative data from SPSS software, descriptive indexes and a one-sample t-test were used. Finally, the model has three main dimensions (teaching, research debate, and social services) based on four factors (tasks, technology, manpower, and structure). The results of the study indicated that the current status of the sample at the (p≤0.01) level in the research-tasks (t= 5.53, p= 0.00), research-technology (t= 3.76, p= 0.00), manpower-research (t= 8.93, p= 0.00) and social services-technology (t= 3.99, p= 0.00) were significantly higher than the average level.