Strategic principles for Interdisciplinary Management In the "Academic System”

Today, educational and academic institutions have globally turned to complex, multifaceted and interdisciplinary developmental approaches to sciences. Such approaches necessitate having a vision and perception of complex, multisector, and multidimensional issues on the part of institutions. Iranian universities are no exception; and therefore, they have adopted a problem solving, multilateral approach to academic education and research and emphasize the importance of the relationship between education and industry. The present paper aimed to answer two important questions: has the formation of an interdisciplinary approach really started in universities? What are the general obstacles and challenges on the way of designing and developing interdisciplinarity in the Iranian academic system? Then, a qualitative method, multiphase coding and thematic analysis have been used to analyze texts of 30 semi-structured interviews, 26 articles and 11 speeches. Regarding the main research question, results indicated that an interdisciplinary approach has not yet been formed in the Iranian academic system. The main obstacles on the way of achieving interdisciplinarity consist of 8 main themes, 104 sub-themes and 120 concepts. They consist of educational, professional, psychological, intersectional, structural, bureaucratic, financial, socio-cultural and managerial obstacles, the hegemony of classic disciplines and also a lack of effective law. Finally, 6 strategies and policy implementations were offered as the solutions to these obstacles.