Investigating the Relationship between Demand of Higher Education and Employment Indicators in Iran in the 1980s

The problem of this research was to investigate the relationship between some indicators of higher education demand and employment indicators in the 1980s (1381-1390) with the aim of knowing the demand for higher education in Iran.

In terms of method, the research is considered to be of the secondary analysis type with the field of social analysis. For this purpose, data from the national university entrance exam and the population and housing census were used. It is the analysis unit of the province.

The findings of the research show that there is a direct relationship between the average demand index and the average unemployment in the provinces of the country. Also, the analysis of the growth trend showed that there is a direct relationship between the growth rate of unemployment and the growth rate of demand in the provinces of the country, and there is an inverse relationship between the growth rate of demand and the growth rate of economic participation. In this research, for the first time, an index called delayed demand (repetition of entrance exams) was investigated. The findings showed that there is an inverse relationship between late demand and employment indicators. This means that the higher the unemployment in the provinces, the higher the repetition of participation in the entrance exam (especially for women) and the higher the rate of economic participation, the lower the repetition of the entrance examination. The comparison of the findings shows that in the eighties, the ratio of female to male participants increased compared to previous years, which was partly due to the withdrawal of men.

The main goal of this research was to help to better understand the demand for higher education in Iran. The findings of the research show new dimensions of the demand for higher education and confirm that the national exam, beyond an educational exam, has broad and deep social and economic dimensions. The discussed issues remind us of the need to conduct more research in this regard. From the practical point of view, knowing this phenomenon as fully as possible is a necessary condition for the efficiency of any kindof policy, legislation and planning in this field.