Intergenerational change in the academic life of university professors

For a long time, academic life in Iran has been subject to controversial changes. Some claims indicate a loss of values, norms and academic responsibilities. These issues are vital in a world where life has become more and more important, and studying is essential. The purpose of this article is to investigate the evolution of scientific life among three generations of university professors, which is based on qualitative method and theory. The participants were selected with a targeted sample among the professors of the three comprehensive universities in Tehran. Theoretical saturation of data was provided through semi-structured exploratory interviews with 52 samples and analyzed with Atlas-ti software.
The findings showed that the professors had different strategies in dealing with the causal, environmental and background conditions; the first generation was adapted to the educational and elitist universities and had a mastery of their students. Full-time residence on campus is a habit for them. The second generation focuses on a combination of education and research and has gone into great applications and large projects. The third generation has been naturally materialized. Their craftiness reduces their stay in the campus, and they seek to establish knowledge companies to grow in wealth production. The result of these strategies is the decline of norms to the importance of the affair and the interest of the scientific profession.