Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities

Abstract This study employs a grounded theory approach to explain academic neglect among graduate students. The participants consisted of master’s and doctoral students at the University of Kurdistan, selected through purposive sampling, with 15 individuals ultimately included in the study. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and analyzed via open, axial, and selective coding. The findings indicate that academic neglect is a multidimensional and institutional phenomenon shaped through the interaction of causal factors—such as a sense of educational meaninglessness, weak student–supervisor interaction, limited research resources, and economic pressures—with contextual conditions including suspended academic identity, uncertainty in academic trajectories, and weakened institutional belonging. Moreover, dysfunctional educational structures, the absence of psychological support, and cultural discontinuities act as intervening conditions that intensify this phenomenon. Accordingly, strategies such as restructuring the institutional culture of universities, empowering faculty members as facilitators of academic growth, strengthening psychological and social support systems, and reforming motivational and reward structures are recommended. The consequences of academic neglect manifest at both positive (enhanced self-awareness and reflective capacity) and negative (academic isolation and reduced professional engagement) levels. Overall, the results suggest that academic neglect is not an individual deficit but a reflection of deeper structural and cultural gaps within higher education, underscoring the need to redefine the university’s role and its connection to students’ lifeworlds.

Abstract A thoughtful university is an institution that moves beyond instrumental functions and the mere transmission of knowledge, focusing instead on critical reflection, scholarly dialogue, and social responsibility. Given the structural challenges and the dominance of quantification in Iranian higher education, the present study aimed to develop a theoretical model of the thoughtful university within the context of Iranian higher education, drawing on the lived experiences of faculty members of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Kurdistan. The study adopted a qualitative approach using grounded theory methodology based on Strauss and Corbin’s systematic design. The research population consisted of faculty members of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Kurdistan. Using purposive sampling with a theoretical orientation, twenty faculty members were selected as the study sample. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was conducted in three stages: open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. The causal conditions identified included the search for meaning, experiences of constraints, and environmental transformations. The contextual conditions comprised faculty culture, individual characteristics, and organizational conditions. The intervening conditions included evaluation policies, university management, and the climate of interaction. In response to these conditions, faculty members adopted strategies such strengthening scholarly dialogue within the university environment, rethinking teaching and research practices, drawing the collective capacities of faculty members, and managing ways compatible with structural constraints. The consequences of these strategies were categorized as strengthening intellectual life within the university, transforming students’ educational experience, improving the quality scholarly activity, and gradually redefining role the university in society. The findings indicated the realization of the thoughtful university Iran requires a transition from rigid and quantitatively oriented structures toward reflective agency among faculty members and the creation of informal spaces for dialogue.