Challenges and Barriers to Internationalization from the Perspective of Faculty Members and Staff of the International Department of Iran, Tehran and Shahid Beheshti Universities of Medical Sciences

Introduction: Since internationalization is one of the important priorities of medical universities, so this study was conducted to investigate the challenges of internationalization in medical universities in Tehran. Methods: This is qualitative research with a conventional content analysis approach. Seventeen faculty members, experts and managers of the international department of Iran, Tehran and Shahid Beheshti Universities of Medical Sciences in the second semester of the academic year of 2018-2019 were selected by purposive sampling method and interviewed semi-structured. Then, the collected data were analyzed based on five Graneheim steps and based on MAXQDA.2019 quality data analysis software. Result: The findings of the content analysis of the interviews showed that the five main components including structural-legal, political-security, educational-research, cultural-social and economic-infrastructure components along with 13 sub-components including policies Macro, Recruitment and Recruitment Process, Staff and Management, International Services, Status and Educational Services, Research Services, University Reputation, Society culture, University culture , Economic Development and Financial Services and Facilities, Infrastructure Development And universities, welfare services, and the development of information technology and virtual services are among the challenges and barriers to internationalization. Conclusion: According to the findings, in order to strengthen the internationalization process of higher education, legislative institutions should adopt laws and monitor their implementation, as well as sign memoranda of understanding with other countries. Universities should also pay attention to increasing information capability, improving English language skills and other specialized skills of staff, appropriate advertisements to attract foreign students, exchange students and professors, and strengthen the image of the university.