Presenting a Model of Internationalization in Universities and Higher Education Institutions Located in Free Zones

Internationalization of universities is one of the most important challenges in higher education in the world, so the main issue of the present study is providing a model Internationalization in Universities and Higher Education institutions located in 7 active free zones in Iran including Kish, Qeshm,  Anzali, Aras, Mako Arvand and Chabahar.This research is an applied and a Qualitative method in terms of purpose and used a grounded theory approach. potential participants include faculty members have written works related to internationalization, directors of the offices of international scientific cooperation, heads of prestigious Iranian universities and universities located in the free zones of the country, a total of 27 people were selected as participants based on the theoretical saturation sampling. Also, semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. After accomplishing the interviews and collection of the data, the obtained were analyzed using the systematic approach of Strauss and Corbin and the paradigm model. the results of the analysis of the findings after performing the three steps of coding include 328 open codes, 106 axial codes and 39 selective codes. The final model consists of a total of 8 dimensions as axial categories, 8 factors as causal and contextual conditions affecting internationalization, 8 obstacles to the establishment of an international university as intervening conditions, 5 internationalization strategies and 10 consequences from the internationalization of higher education in the free zones of the country. The internationalization strategy of free zones' universities needs to be revised and the international higher education development in these zones requires serious decisions and the implementation of the proposed model for internationalization.  The implementation of this model with respect to the influence of all external and internal factors and along with the efforts of all key actors and stakeholders, can become one of the most important agents for the development of the international higher education system and promote the higher education section competitiveness in the global market