An Analysis on the Trend of Social Demand for Studying in “Higher Education” Academic Major

Introduction:The accepted social demand in higher education academic major plays an important role in providing the specialized human resources of the society in different educational levels and especially, in master and PhD level, in terms of produce and disseminate science, solving the problems of the higher education system and the country. Therefore, with an analysis of the process of accepting social demand in this field, it will be possible to respond appropriately to these demands. Also, it will be useful for policy making and planning regarding the efficiency and effectiveness of higher education and measuring and accepting students based on Ministry of Science, Research and Technology needs.
Method:This study is an applied research. The aim was to analyze the trend of social demand for studying in higher education academic major. The statistics of all accepted social demands in the field of higher education in all educational levels including PhD, master, bachelor and associate degrees with different orientations, from the establishment of this academic major (academic year 2012-2013) was studied. Data collection was used documentary and library studies, and the statistics used were obtained from the Institute for Research and Planning in Higher Education. The method of analysis was the analysis of the content of the documents (secondary analysis).
Findings:The findings indicated that the highest number of accepted demand in the associate degree and bachelor degree were in 2008-2009. Also, the highest number of accepted demand in the master degree was in 2011-2012 and the highest number of accepted demand in was 2017-2018. From the academic year of 2013-2014 (until 2018-2019), the number of PhD students has always been significantly higher than the other academic levels. In all years of admission, the number of males was more than females. According to the statistics of the trend of accepting social demands and also, the statistics of graduates of this academic major in master and PhD degrees, it is estimated that there will be 154 master graduates and 118 PhD graduates. In other words, there will 154 theses and 118 dissertations in this field, each of those has been written on various practical topics. 
Discussion: What can be assessed from the study of the accepted social demand trend in associate degree is the isolation of higher education institutions. Therefore, due to the relatively long interval between two periods of student admission at this academic level, the role of superior institutes is highlighted. Because course titles and their acceptance capacity is determined by policy makers in this field, such as Student Assessment and Admission Council and so on. Therefore, it can be said that in our country, the accepted demand in this major and at this level has been based more on the decisions of policymakers than the real social demand of individuals to choose this academic major. Also, the trend of admission for bachelor degree indicates that the social demand is not taken into account in accepting students of this major; rather, other criteria and indicators for attracting and accepting students have been considered. It is necessary to pay attention to the role of higher education institutions in creating, constructing and guiding the social demand of individuals to continue their education. According to ascending trend of accepting PhD student, it will be expected that a large number of specialized human resource with higher and postgraduate education enter to the country educational system and to produce and disseminate specialized science and knowledge in this field. Since in the master degree in this major, in most years, especially since 2011, the most accepted social demand has always been related to females; it was expected that in PhD level, the accepted social demand for females be higher than for males. But in real this has not been occurred. This issue can be based on various factors, and this would be due to personal, cultural, family and social issues related to females' tendency to pursue their study in this academic major. One of the consequences of the decrease in females demand for studying PhD degree in this major will be seen on recruiting faculty members, maintaining the gender composition of professors in this field, and managerial positions in higher education.