Representation of good governance concept in higher education: Dimension analysis and examining the factor structure of indicators

In contemporary times, governance is becoming a major issue in the higher education sector. Because different ideas and opinions have been presented about the reconstruction of higher education systems and the governance of universities. Quality is one of the most important aspects of higher education governance. One of the consequences of poor governance in higher education can be noticed in the low quality of higher education systems in different countries. Therefore, focusing on improving the quality of governance or "good governance" in higher education is one of the principles of improving the scientific condition of the country. Dimensions and indicators of good governance is the first step in this regard. In the present study, the factor structure of good governance indicators in higher education was represented and explored and good governance indicators were structurally analyzed. To confirm the factor structure, confirmatory factor analysis was performed along with reliability analysis based on the internal consistency of the indicators. The results of exploratory factor analysis showed four main dimensions in good governance indicators of higher education. These dimensions, based on the nature of the indicators, were named interaction, effectiveness, and autonomy and participation dimensions. In the confirmatory factor analysis stage, the obtained factor structure model was tested based on the Structural Equation Modeling method. The results of confirmatory factor analysis indicated that all indices have a factor load above 0.5 on their respective dimension and none of the indices has a cross factor load on different dimensions. Ultimately, the research findings showed that the proposed factor structure of good governance indicators in higher education was approved and can be used based on this structure to develop tools for measuring or promoting good governance in a higher education organization.