Drivers and inhabitants of Iranian knowledge and information science PhD students towards study

A thorough understanding of the drivers and inhabitants to the study can provide the basis for effective planning to improve the study. The aim of this study was to investigate the driving and inhibitory factors affecting the tendency of Iranian knowledge and information science PhD students towards study.

This research was conducted with a qualitative approach and using content analysis method. The data collection tool was an in-depth semi-structured interview. The interviews were conducted through face-to-face visits, telephone calls, e-mails, sending and receiving audio files and conversations on social media. PhD students in knowledge and information science at state universities, Payame-Nour Universities, and Islamic Azad Universities form the research community, and 33 people were selected as the research sample using targeted sampling.

The results show that four factors of "professor", "compulsion", "personal promotion" and "interest" were the driving factors among doctoral students and seven factors were "professor", "family". "Access problems", "ambiguous future", "problems and weaknesses of the educational system", "growth of the spirit of need to study" and "non-participation in teaching" have been identified as deterrents factors.

The drivers and inhabitants of the study are very intertwined and interrelated. Some of these factors affect others and are in some way the cause and effect of each other. To strengthen effective factors and reduce barriers to study, it requires more effort from professors and programmers at the macro level, libraries and librarians, politicians, and more effort and planning from doctoral students themselves. It is necessary for the education system and the education system in universities to get out of the monolithic system and to be the speaker of unity. In this way, students are less likely to study and research until there are fundamental changes in teaching methods and curriculum content in the education system. For the first time, this study examines the most important factors and barriers to the advancement of PhD students in information science, and the results provide qualitative factors for the context of the research community. And it can be used in planning and policy making for the doctoral program of the field. Since no research has been done in this field so far, the present study can be considered as a new research in this field.