Content Analysis of Higher Education Program's with a Focus on Structural and Functional Changes of Academic Autonomy

This study examines the structural and functional changes of higher education autonomy in five years higher education program’s documents science the Islamic revolution of Iran. Theoretical basis of this study is a combination of system theory and theories presented in the ground of higher education governance models and functions of higher education autonomy. The purpose of researcher in this study was to investigate and describe the process of structural (governance models in higher education) and functional changes of Iranian higher education autonomy during the five developmental programs. For this purpose, quantitative content analysis approach and interview is used. The content analysis Prevalence of issues related to higher education governance models and functions of academic freedom in the context of the five development programs. The purpose of the interview and its position in this research are to collect complementary information related to the research subject and explain and the findings of the research. The statistical population of content analysis is the documents related to the five developmental programs in the country. Research Examples include on the statistical population. The tool used for content analysis includes coding worksheets for three models of governance and functions of higher education autonomy. To analyze the data descriptive and inferential statistics such as the chi-square test was used. In the interview, the researcher collected data from semi-structured questions.The sample consisted of thirty experts who conducted the study were chosen. For the analysis of interview closed questions, chi-square test, kruskal-wallis and U mann–whitney test was used to. The research findings are presented in three sections that in the first part, the findings of the content analysis, in the second part, the findings from the interviews with experts and in the third section, comparing the findings of the content analysis with interviews are discussed. In general, a look at the progression of structural (models of governance in higher education) and functional changes of higher education autonomy within five developmental programs, it is considered a change in the orientation and attitudes of planners and policymakers from state-centered models of governance to the Humboldt and market-oriented models occurred that in consequence of this change of attitude, attention to some of the higher education autonomy functions in the third, fourth and fifth developmental programs, has been more than other developmental programs. Positive correlation indicates that the interaction between structural and functional aspects of higher education autonomy during developmental programs.