Sociological problems of university autonomy in Iran; a qualitative study

The prerequisite for the success of higher education is the university autonomy associated with academic freedom. University autonomy is the heart of all academics in higher education institutions around the world. The laws and social conditions in which universities operate are very diverse and the relationship between government and higher education institutions can have different forms; therefore, there is no single model for all. For this reason, the characteristics of the university autonomy in a country cannot be considered for another country. The present research was aimed at understanding and explaining the lack of satisfactory university autonomy in Iran's higher education system in terms of sociology and based on Ruth Wodak approach to critical research discourse methodology. The documents and texts studied in this study included all texts and written and spoken literature on the conditions of university autonomy in Iran. The research findings showed that most of the problems of university autonomy in Iran are due to twelve reasons of sociological roots associated with organizational, academic, financial and staffing autonomy. In the final section, appropriate policy strategies planning and accountability of universities to gain more government and community credibility, simultaneous adjustment of   state political attitudes and academic attitudes toward increasing employability, revision of the traditional view and government- oriented in higher education and more emphasis on ethics and moral values ​​in higher education were proposed to revive university autonomy in Iran.