The Educational Sojourn Of The Returned Iranian Alumni From University Of California, 1963-64--1973-74

Author

Hutan Yassai Ardakani, University of the Pacific

Date of Award

1976

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Department

Education

First Advisor

Thomas Cy Coleman

First Committee Member

Carl D. Lang

Second Committee Member

Roger L. Reimer

Third Committee Member

Margaret L. Cormack

Fourth Committee Member

Otis H. Shao

Abstract

PROBLEM: The flow of returning Iranian graduates from American educational institutions has focused attention upon the educational experiences of the graduates and the extent to which they are able to utilize their training for employment in Iran.

PURPOSE: The major purposes of this study were to analyze (.1) the degree of satisfaction of the sojourn period in terms of the academic, economic, arid social experiences of a group of Iranian alumni who have returned to Iran, and (2) the relevancy and applicability of their American education.

METHODOLOGY: The sample for this study was a group of Iranian graduates from the University of California system who returned to Iran. A list of 103 alumni was prepared under the auspices of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in Iran. The alumni were contacted on the phone by the researcher in Iran and 76 confirmations for the interviews were arranged. During the course of interviews, a structured questionnaire was administered and items therein were discussed at length. The questionnaire contained 28 reaction items pertaining to the institutional information and 20 general items designed to elicit descriptive data. Open-ended questions were also included. Selected-computer programs for·the statistical package for the Social Science (SPSS) provided the following analyses: (1) frequency distributions, (2) contingency tables for the categorical data, and (3) means, standard deviations, and Pearson Product Correlation Coefficients for the items related to the degree of satisfaction.

FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study indicated that 10 to 45 percent of the respondents encountered difficulties in 11 specific areas of academic, economic, and social aspects of their sojourn experiences. The major difficulties were: finding suitable housing, using the English language effectively, and receiving helps from the student advisors. The respondents indicated their satisfaction with the academic, economic, and social aspects of the University of California experiences. Male graduates with doctoral degrees were the most satisfied group of the graduates with their academic aspects of their experience. Females expressed a higher degree of satisfaction with social and physical aspects of their sojourn experience then did the males. The males and singles who graduated with a doctoral degree were highly satisfied with the relevancy and_ applicability of their training to the needs of Iran. Ninety-five percent of the respondents reported using their training to either some or high degree in their employment. The graduates in environmental design indicated that they were highly satisfied with the opportunities they had for using their university training in Iran, while the graduates in chemistry were the least satisfied in this respect. Upon returning to Iran, 87 percent of the graduates held positions in 3 occupational categories: professorships, 41 percent; administrative positions, 33 percent; and engineering, 13 percent. The remaining 13 percent of the graduates held positions in 7 different disciplines.

RECOMMENDATIONS: 1) Adequate information should be provided for the student who wishes to study in the United States. The prospective university should supply the student with accurate information related to the academic, economic, physical, and social aspects of the institutions. 2) Sufficient knowledge of English language should be required of students prior to admittance into universities. 3) The government of Iran should direct and encourage Iranian students who wish to study abroad into fields of study which are in demand and are easily applicable in Iran. 4) This study should be replicated in an effort to substantiate the findings and to generalize them into wider populations.

Pages

227

Recommended Citation

Ardakani, Hutan Yassai. (1976). The Educational Sojourn Of The Returned Iranian Alumni From University Of California, 1963-64--1973-74. University of the Pacific, Dissertation. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/3446