Higher education relevancy with an accent on the social role of university in a knowledge-based society

Document Type : Original Article

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Abstract

The main goal of this article is to explain the dimensions of higher education relevancy with an accent on understanding the concept of social role of university in discourse of knowledge society.Definition of the function of service to a society alongside two main functions of higher education system namely teaching and research implies the social role of universities in responding to the needs and expectations of a society at different levels. A key element in assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of this system is relevancy which has been raised as a criterion besides other criteria such as quality and transparency. Hence, the main informer’s views were analyzed to respond to the basic question of what is the new function of university in knowledge society. The second question was what measures should be consideredto deal with challenges that universities face to them in the third millennium. The results of these interviews identified “relevancy” as the focal category in relation to other four sub-categories including teaching relevancy, research relevancy, proficiency relevancy, knowledge relevancy and study area relevancy which are considered as the main criteria in defining and measuring relevancy in higher education. Moreover, we can lay an apt ground to provide relevancy by strengthening and improving academic culture, structure and management, proper assessment and legal recording system, educational and research policies, and finance and economy aspects of a university

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