Redefining Higher Education Policy in the Framework of Iranian Society's Demand from the University

Higher education system to be able to deal with the missions appropriate to its ecosystem and to be efficient in providing services to the society, depends on recognizing the diverse demands of the society. Understanding the society's demands is very important, because what naturally links the university institution to the society is the university's response to the society's existing demands, which shows itself in the form of alignment between the university's supply and the society's demand. Therefore, the aim of this research was to identify the dimensions and nature of the existing demands for higher education in the university ecosystem of Iran. An important contribution of this research is understanding the demand for higher education by clarifying its complex and multifaceted nature. In fact, the findings of this research, by shedding light on a variety of Iranian society's demands from the university institution, prevent us from reducing these demands to social demand, and in addition, highlights and conceptualizes two other types of demand, i.e., the economic demand of the business sector and the political demand of the government. This research was conducted using a basic qualitative method based on the study and review of the lived experience of effective actors and experts of higher education in Iran. In this regard, 39 people were identified, and the experiences of 23 of them were explored using semi-structured interviews until reaching theoretical saturation. Data analysis was done using qualitative thematic analysis method, and validity of the findings were checked using techniques such as data triangulation, independent review, and contextual description. According to the findings, three main themes were identified in the field of social demand, namely "ladder of livelihood and social status", "ladder of virtue and moral education" and "ladder of civic participation and social activism". As can be expected, for the vast majority of people in the society, providing the basic and livelihood needs and then achieving the appropriate social status is of the highest priority and importance, which shows itself in the demand for a better job and a higher economic status. Another important social demand that has deep historical roots is that knowledge and learning have intrinsic value for people. The third theme of social demand, that is, the university as a "ladder of service and civic participation", shows itself in commitment to public interests of the country, learning constructive social discussion and social activism aimed at justice and anti-tyranny