Introduction

 One of these functional developments of universities to meet new environmental needs is to redefine the relationship between university stakeholders and the government in university governance (Austin & Jones, 2016; Núñez & Leiva,2018). University stakeholders in university governance and management include; They become managers, faculty members, students, board of trustees, and foreign representatives (industry, society, etc.). Researchers believe that university governance does not mean that all stakeholders have the same status and power in the governance structure and play the same role, but rather that decision-making at the university should be based on democratic voting with the participation of all stakeholders. Be (Wang & Zhang, 2019). Students are one of the most critical stakeholders in university decision-making. Numerous studies have pointed to the importance of the role and involvement of students in governance within the university (Lizzio & Wilson, 2009). However, research evidence suggests that various countries' student participation in government and academic elections is low (Parejo & Lorente,2012). Estimates of European countries' student participation in governance and university elections are less than one-third. (Bergan, 2011). In addition, little research literature is available on the role of students in university governance (Trowler, 2010). There are many reasons for this; Including; Lack of trust of faculty members and administrators in students' decision-making ability, lack of continuous and active participation of students in the university decision-making process, lack of background and students' proper understanding of university decisions, the inability of student representatives in student institutions, extremism of student activists (Moore, 1995). In addition, there is long-term resistance to accepting students as legitimate university governance beneficiaries (Naylor,2019). Given the epidemic challenges that plague academic systems around the world. Reengineering and reconstructing the structure of academic systems, especially from the cradle of governance and management structure, has become more intense. However, identifying and analyzing the share of different stakeholders in the university's governance has become doubly necessary. Students are one of the key stakeholders in university governance. Students will have a direct role in the development of various ecosystems after graduation, as well as the countries' human capital of the countries. However, so far, few studies have been conducted in this area. In particular, no study has been shown in the domestic research literature as far as the authors of this study are aware. Therefore, research in this field is very important and vital to fill this research gap. The need for this issue is felt more and more in the higher education system of Iran, as in other developing countries, which seek greater efficiency and effectiveness in their university system. Because looking at the upstream documents (comprehensive scientific map of the country, development plans, vision document 1404), the common theme of all of them is the comprehensive development of the country (economic, political, cultural, social, and scientific) against other countries due to unfair international sanctions. This is possible, as mentioned in the documents, by emphasizing the activism and leadership of universities. Therefore, conducting studies in the field of university governance is very important to enhance the efficiency capacity of the university system in the current turbulent situation because of the endless global challenges. Accordingly, this study aims to analyze students' role in governance within the university. To achieve this goal, two questions have been raised; What are the most significant deterrents for students to participate in governance within the university? And what are the most important ways to remove barriers to student participation in governance within the university?

Methods: The present study is written with a qualitative approach. In this qualitative research, the Conventional Content Analysis strategy has been used in particular. The statistical population of this research consists of Ph.D. students in higher education (all majors: Economics, Management, University Development Planning, Curriculum Planning, and Information Technology) in Tehran, Shahid Beheshti, and Allameh Tabatabai Universities in Tehran. For sampling, the purposive sampling method Homogenous Sampling has been used. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. Two strategies have been used to calculate reliability; First) member checking; is one of the most important techniques for validating findings (Cho & Trent, 2006). In this study, after analyzing the interviews, the findings were shared with some of the participants, and their views were validated by reflecting their views. Second) was the peer debriefing.

Results: Findings in the section of barriers for students to participate in six main components; Inefficiency of the governance of the educational system; Intra-academic non-academic governance; Improper teaching and learning system; Dysfunctional rules and regulations; Students' non-participation in governance and cultural weakness was achieved with thirteen subcomponents. Then, corresponding to these six components, strategies for accelerating students' participation in governance within the university were summarized in the form of six main components with thirteen sub-components. Finally, based on the findings, policy recommendations for the Iranian higher education system are stated.

Conclusion: The role of students in governance within the university is an important issue that has been neglected in the domestic research literature. All students participating in this study emphasized the importance of this issue. However, about 38% of students have no experience in participating in university decisions. Accordingly, the findings of this study provide a general representation of the losers and facilitators of student participation in governance that can be the basis for policy in this area.

Funding: There is no funding support

Authors' contribution: F.H participated in the collection of interviews, A.K participated in the analysis of the findings and wrote the article. Dr. J.T participated in the review of the article.

Conflict of interest: Authors declared no conflict of interest

Acknowledgments: We thank all the students who participated in our research