Typology of Actors' Mindset in Developing Elite-Selection and Elite-Training Policies: A Research Based on Q Methodology

Considering the importance of elites in achieving the goals and the National Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and in order to create a dynamic environment for activating and influencing the elites in the country's developments, a “national strategic document on elite affairs” has been compiled. However, policy-making for elites is a new and growing area in Iran. Therefore, various assessments regarding how to formulate these policies are needed for succeed. On the other hand, mapping the actors’ mindset involved in compiling the country's strategic document in the affairs of the elites can identify the various attitudes of the policy-makers in this regard. As well, it helps to compare and evaluate each of these attitudes. For this purpose, in this research, the mindsets of stakeholders in the process of document preparation and experts in this field in the two areas of elite-selection elite-training have been explored, and the facilitating and implementation strategies have been studied. To perform this research and achieve the intended goals, the "Q" methodology has been used. In this research, six types of mindset related to the elite-selection entitled "entrepreneur-centered idealists", "passive and slogan-oriented idealists", "critical idealists", "incremental-transformational idealists", "repulsive-systematic transformational realist", and "realistic collectivists". Moreover, three types of mindset related to the elite-training were extracted under the titles of "specialized greenhouse training", "general garden training", and "support-oriented integrated training". Finally, using several matrixes, a comparison was made between the identified groups. In these matrices, the areas of differentiation were identified and the status of each type of mindsets comparing to those areas were examined.