Iranian Journal of Educational Sociology

Meta-Analysis of the Digital Divide and the Reproduction of Educational Inequality in Developed Countries

Hossein Safari ^* iD , Naser Haghi iD

Purpose: The present study aimed to systematically synthesize empirical evidence on the relationship between the digital divide and the reproduction of educational inequality in developed countries and to determine the relative magnitude of access-based, skills-based, and outcome-based digital inequalities on educational outcomes.

Methods and Materials: This study employed a meta-analytic research design to integrate findings from quantitative investigations examining the association between the digital divide and educational inequality in developed countries. A total of 105 empirical studies published between 2000 and 2025 met the inclusion criteria and were incorporated into the analysis. Eligible studies reported quantitative measures of digital inequality and educational outcomes and provided sufficient statistical information for effect-size calculation. The digital divide was categorized into three dimensions: first-level (access-based inequalities), second-level (digital skills and competencies), and third-level (differences in educational benefits derived from digital technology use). Effect sizes were transformed into correlation coefficients and synthesized using meta-analytic procedures to estimate overall and dimension-specific relationships.

Findings: The meta-analysis revealed statistically significant positive associations between all dimensions of the digital divide and educational inequality. Access-based inequalities demonstrated a small but significant effect on educational outcomes (r = 0.12), indicating that disparities in technology access continue to influence educational opportunities despite widespread digital infrastructure in developed countries. Skills-based inequalities showed a moderate effect size (r = 0.28), suggesting that differences in digital competencies substantially contribute to educational stratification. The strongest relationship was observed for outcome-based inequalities (r = 0.35), highlighting the critical role of unequal capacity to transform digital engagement into academic success.

Conclusion: The findings indicate that the digital divide remains a significant mechanism in the reproduction of educational inequality in developed countries. While disparities in technological access have diminished over time, inequalities related to digital skills and digital capital continue to exert substantial influence on academic achievement and educational opportunities.

Explaining the Process of University Students’ Epistemic Trust in AI-Generated Content: A Grounded Theory Study from the Perspective of Philosophy of Education

Sakineh Rastegar Moghadam Ebrahimian ^* iD

https://doi.org/10.61838/0hcnfy67

Purpose: This study aimed to explain the process through which university students develop, evaluate, recalibrate, and regulate epistemic trust in AI-generated content from the perspective of philosophy of education.

Methods and Materials: This qualitative study was conducted using a grounded theory approach among 24 university students studying at universities and higher education institutions in Tehran, Iran. Participants were initially selected through purposive sampling and subsequently through theoretical sampling until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data were collected through individual semi-structured, in-depth interviews focusing on participants’ experiences of using, evaluating, trusting, questioning, and verifying AI-generated content in academic contexts. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed concurrently with data collection using initial coding, focused coding, axial categorization, constant comparison, memo writing, theoretical sampling, and selective integration. Trustworthiness was enhanced through prolonged engagement with the data, peer examination, participant validation, negative-case analysis, reflexive memo writing, and maintenance of an audit trail.

Findings: The analysis generated six main categories: pragmatic entry into AI-mediated knowing, heuristic attribution of epistemic credibility, epistemic friction and disruption of trust, verification and calibration of trust, educational and social regulation of epistemic trust, and consequences for epistemic agency. These categories were integrated around the core category of “calibrating epistemic delegation under conditions of algorithmic opacity.” The findings indicated a dynamic process progressing from pragmatic initiation and heuristic credibility attribution to provisional reliance, epistemic friction, active verification and calibration, and conditional integration. Contextual and intervening factors, including prior knowledge, task stakes, disciplinary norms, AI literacy, information literacy, teacher guidance, and previous negative experiences, shaped this process. Two longer-term trajectories emerged: reflective epistemic augmentation and epistemic dependency.

Conclusion: Epistemic trust in AI-generated content is a conditional, dynamic, and revisable process in which educationally responsible use depends on maintaining learner responsibility, critical verification, evidential judgment, and appropriate limits on epistemic delegation.

An Analysis of the Philosophical and Educational Foundations of Hope in the Education System and the Development of a Model for Enhancing Academic Hope among Students in Lamerd County

Parvaneh Doodman ^* iD , Havva Motamedi Barabadi iD , Nooshafarin Safari iD , Bayram Aghapour iD

https://doi.org/10.61838/dk02bx16

Purpose: This study aimed to analyze the philosophical and educational foundations of hope in the education system and to develop a contextually grounded model for enhancing academic hope among students in Lamerd County.

Methods and Materials: This qualitative study employed an exploratory and interpretive design. Participants consisted of 18 university faculty members, educational experts and researchers, school administrators, counselors, and experienced teachers selected through purposive sampling on the basis of relevant academic and professional expertise. Sampling continued until data saturation was achieved. Data were collected through semi-structured, in-depth interviews focused on the philosophical foundations, educational determinants, barriers, and practical mechanisms associated with academic hope. Interviews were audio-recorded with participants’ consent, transcribed verbatim, and supplemented by field notes. Data were analyzed through inductive thematic analysis involving repeated reading of transcripts, identification of meaning units, initial coding, constant comparison, categorization of related codes, development of subcategories and main categories, and integration of the resulting themes into a conceptual model. Credibility, dependability, confirmability, and transferability were strengthened through member checking, expert review, systematic documentation of analytical decisions, and continuous comparison of interpretations with the original data.

Findings: The analysis showed that academic hope was organized around interconnected philosophical and educational dimensions. The principal philosophical foundations were human agency and freedom, purposefulness and meaning, future orientation, human growth and educability, and dignity and intrinsic human worth. The major educational mechanisms included goal-oriented learning, pathway thinking, academic self-efficacy, self-regulation, supportive teacher-student relationships, family encouragement, peer support, positive school climate, educational justice, access to resources, and experiences of academic success. The resulting model indicated that these individual, relational, institutional, and contextual components interact to generate sustainable academic hope, reflected in meaningful goals, confidence in action, alternative pathways, persistence, stronger school engagement, and positive educational and occupational orientation.

Conclusion: Academic hope is a multidimensional and educationally modifiable phenomenon that develops through the interaction of students’ agency and psychological capacities with supportive relationships, equitable school conditions, meaningful goals, and credible future opportunities.

Exploring the Experience of Epistemic Injustice in the Classroom and Its Implications for Education: A Philosophy of Education Approach

Masumeh Bayat ^* iD

https://doi.org/10.61838/xq89hd71

Purpose: This study aimed to explore university students’ lived experiences of epistemic injustice in classroom settings and to elucidate the educational implications of these experiences from the perspective of philosophy of education.

Methods and Materials: This qualitative study employed an interpretive phenomenological design. Participants were 20 undergraduate and postgraduate students from public universities in Tehran, Iran, selected through purposive maximum-variation sampling. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews focusing on students’ experiences of credibility, voice, classroom participation, interpretive exclusion, and educational authority. Interviews lasted approximately 45–75 minutes, were audio-recorded with participants’ consent, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Coding was primarily inductive, while concepts derived from epistemic injustice and philosophy of education served as sensitizing theoretical frameworks. MAXQDA 2024 was used to organize and analyze the data. Credibility, dependability, and confirmability were enhanced through participant reflection, peer review of coding, analytic memoing, and maintenance of an audit trail.

Findings: Analysis identified six interconnected themes: credibility injustice and devaluation of student testimony, epistemic silencing and unequal participation, hermeneutical marginalization and interpretive exclusion, hierarchical distribution of epistemic authority, consequences for epistemic agency and educational engagement, and conditions required for epistemically just education. Participants’ accounts indicated that repeated credibility deficits and dismissive classroom interactions encouraged self-silencing, reduced intellectual risk-taking, weakened academic confidence, and undermined students’ sense of belonging as legitimate knowers. Hermeneutical marginalization was reflected in difficulties naming problematic experiences and in the normalization of exclusionary practices. Participants emphasized dialogical teaching, transparent justification of judgments, epistemic pluralism, equitable opportunities for participation, and recognition of students as knowledge contributors as central requirements of educational justice.

Conclusion: Epistemic injustice in the classroom is a relational and structural educational phenomenon that affects students’ voice, interpretive agency, academic identity, and participation; therefore, epistemically just education requires pedagogical authority to be exercised through dialogue, reason-giving, recognition, and equitable participation rather than positional hierarchy alone.

Validation of a Model for Improving the Quality of Islamic Education Courses in Iraqi Universities

Ghalib Mhmood Mhawes iD , Narges Saeidian Khorasgani ^* iD , Falah Salih Hussein iD , Badri Shahtalebi iD

https://doi.org/10.61838/kman.ijes.1520

Purpose: The present study aimed to validate a multidimensional model for improving the quality of Islamic education courses in Iraqi universities.

Methods and Materials: This quantitative study employed a descriptive, cross-sectional survey design. The statistical population consisted of 1,517 faculty members teaching Islamic education courses at Iraqi universities in 2025. Based on the Krejcie and Morgan sample-size table, 375 participants were selected through nonprobability convenience sampling. Data were collected using a researcher-developed questionnaire consisting of 37 items scored on a five-point Likert scale. The instrument was developed from the theoretical and empirical literature and covered faculty-related factors, the Islamic identity of the university, university policymaking, higher education macro-policymaking, and Islamic education curriculum factors. Content validity was confirmed by subject-matter experts, face validity was verified by a group of respondents, and internal consistency was supported by a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.812. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the measurement structure, construct validity, and overall fit of the proposed model.

Findings: Confirmatory factor analysis supported all five dimensions of the proposed model. Standardized factor loadings were 0.86 for faculty-related factors, 0.82 for the Islamic identity of the university, 0.80 for higher education macro-policymaking factors, 0.78 for university policymaking factors, and 0.74 for curriculum-related factors; all coefficients were statistically significant at p < 0.001. The model demonstrated an acceptable fit, χ²/df = 1.66, CFI = 0.95, TLI = 0.94, GFI = 0.91, RMSEA = 0.042, and SRMR = 0.046. Composite reliability coefficients exceeded 0.85, and average variance extracted values were above 0.50 for all dimensions, confirming reliability and convergent validity. Discriminant validity was also supported.

Conclusion: The validated model indicates that improving Islamic education courses in Iraqi universities requires an integrated approach combining competent faculty members, a strong institutional Islamic identity, supportive university and national policies, and relevant, contemporary curricula.

Designing a Higher Education Development Model for Achieving Sustainable Development: A Case Study of Technical and Vocational Universities in West Azerbaijan Province

Mehrab Karimi iD , Roghaye Vahdat ^* iD , Niloufar Mortazanejad iD

https://doi.org/10.61838/r46erb60

Purpose: This study aimed to design a comprehensive higher education development model for achieving sustainable development in technical and vocational universities in West Azerbaijan Province.

Methods and Materials: This applied qualitative study was conducted in two complementary phases. In the first phase, a meta-synthesis approach based on the seven-step model of Sandelowski and Barroso was used to identify and integrate conceptual components extracted from previous studies. Relevant Persian and English studies published between 2005 and 2025 were systematically searched in valid scientific databases, and after screening and methodological quality assessment using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist, 46 studies were selected for final analysis. In the second phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 higher education experts selected through purposive and snowball sampling until theoretical saturation was achieved. The interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The credibility and dependability of the findings were examined through expert review, participant validation, independent coding, and coder agreement.

Findings: The inferential synthesis of the meta-synthesis and thematic analysis indicated that sustainable higher education development is a multidimensional construct requiring the integration of managerial, educational, environmental, research-based, entrepreneurial, and social mechanisms. The final model included five overarching dimensions: strategic sustainability management, environmental management, education and learning for sustainability, sustainable innovation and entrepreneurship, and social responsibility. These dimensions were organized into 28 organizing themes and 125 basic themes. The results indicated that the realization of sustainable development in technical and vocational universities depends on coordinated governance, green resource management, curriculum integration of sustainability, applied green research, university–industry collaboration, responsible consumption, student empowerment, environmental ethics, and continuous evaluation of sustainability programs.

Conclusion: The proposed model provides an evidence-based and context-sensitive framework for guiding policy-making, strategic planning, institutional governance, and operational improvement in technical and vocational universities. By integrating sustainability into management, education, research, infrastructure, entrepreneurship, and social responsibility, the model can support universities in becoming active drivers of sustainable regional development.

Design and Validation of an Instrument for Assessing the Professional Priorities of Iraqi Primary School Principals: Evidence of Validity and Reliability Using Second-Order Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Hayder Abdulrazzaq Ghaffoori Alnajjar iD , Fatemeh Ziglari ^* iD , Samoom Jaranji iD , Jahanbakhsh Rahmani iD

https://doi.org/10.61838/12em8j60

Purpose: This study aimed to design and psychometrically validate an instrument for assessing the professional priorities of Iraqi primary school principals.

Methods and Materials: This instrument-development study was conducted among 381 public primary school principals selected from all 18 provinces of Iraq during the 2024–2025 academic year. The initial item pool was developed from the conceptual framework derived from the exploratory phase of the study and was refined through expert review. Content validity was evaluated by 12 professors of educational management using the content validity ratio and content validity index. The final questionnaire comprised 56 items distributed across eight dimensions and was rated on a five-point Likert scale. The measurement structure was examined using first-order and second-order confirmatory factor analyses. Convergent validity was assessed using average variance extracted, while construct reliability and internal consistency were evaluated using composite reliability and Cronbach’s alpha.

Findings: All 56 items loaded significantly on their corresponding first-order factors, with standardized factor loadings ranging from 0.64 to 0.88 and all coefficients significant at p < .001. The first-order eight-factor model demonstrated satisfactory fit, χ²/df = 1.50, CFI = 0.95, TLI = 0.94, RMSEA = 0.036, and SRMR = 0.041. The second-order model also showed acceptable fit, χ²/df = 1.52, CFI = 0.94, TLI = 0.94, RMSEA = 0.037, and SRMR = 0.044. Standardized second-order loadings ranged from 0.68 to 0.87 and were all statistically significant. Average variance extracted values ranged from 0.52 to 0.68, composite reliability coefficients ranged from 0.88 to 0.94, and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranged from 0.82 to 0.94. The total scale demonstrated an alpha coefficient of 0.92.

Conclusion: The developed questionnaire demonstrated a coherent eight-dimensional and hierarchical structure with satisfactory evidence of content validity, factorial validity, convergent validity, composite reliability, and internal consistency, supporting its use for research, professional assessment, and leadership development among Iraqi primary school principals.

A Comparative Analysis of the Effectiveness of Socratic Dialectic, Cartesian Analysis, and Spinozist Synthesis in the Philosophy for Students Program for Strengthening Cognitive Processing Skills

Masumeh Bayat ^* iD

https://doi.org/10.61838/prfg1e12

Purpose: The present study aimed to comparatively analyze the effectiveness of Socratic dialectic, Cartesian analysis, and Spinozist synthesis in strengthening students’ cognitive processing skills within the Philosophy for Students program.

Methods and Materials: This fundamental qualitative study employed a documentary, library-based, and comparative research design. The study corpus consisted of purposively selected primary philosophical works, specialized books, and domestic and international scholarly studies related to Socratic dialectic, Cartesian analysis, Spinozist synthesis, philosophy of education, cognitive science, critical thinking, metacognition, and philosophical inquiry. Data were collected using a researcher-developed document review and conceptual extraction form. Meaningful propositions concerning cognitive mechanisms, educational applications, strengths, limitations, and conditions of effectiveness were identified and coded. The data were analyzed through qualitative content analysis, constant comparison, and comparative interpretation. Initial codes were organized into broader categories, including questioning, conceptual clarification, critical evaluation, analytical decomposition, logical sequencing, inferential reasoning, causal-relational understanding, cognitive synthesis, and metacognitive regulation.

Findings: The comparative analysis indicated that Socratic dialectic was most effective in generating questions, identifying assumptions, clarifying concepts, detecting contradictions, promoting cognitive flexibility, and strengthening metacognitive awareness. Cartesian analysis showed the greatest effectiveness in decomposing complex problems, organizing reasoning sequentially, evaluating evidence, controlling cognitive error, and drawing systematic inferences. Spinozist synthesis was most effective in causal-relational reasoning, systems thinking, knowledge integration, emotional-cognitive coordination, and constructing coherent explanatory structures.

Conclusion: The effectiveness of the three philosophical methods is complementary and context dependent; therefore, their sequential integration can provide a more comprehensive pedagogical framework for strengthening students’ critical, analytical, systemic, and metacognitive processing skills.

Iranian Journal of Educational Sociology

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Validation and Prioritization of Factors Affecting Artificial Intelligence Literacy Education

Identification and Explication of Approaches to Preschool Educational Program Grounded in Local Culture and Indigenous Values.

Representation of the Components and Indicators for Evaluating Learning Quality in Blended Learning at the Elementary Education Level

Validation of a Crisis Management Education Model Based on Drug Abuse: A Case Study of First-Level Secondary School Principals in Tehran

A Prevalence and Risk Factors of Cyberbullying among High School Students in Tehran, Iran: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Structural Relationship Model of Early Childhood Experiences and Suicidal Ideation: The Mediating Role of Emotion Regulation Deficits and Alexithymia

Identifying the Components and Dimensions of the Social Status of Arabic Language Teachers in Iraq: A Qualitative Study Using a Grounded Theory Approach

Identifying Key Change Management Strategies in Iranian Higher Education: A Qualitative Study

Curriculum Model for Health Education and Health Promotion in the First Cycle of Secondary Education Based on the National Comprehensive Map

Validation of the Model of Parental Participation in School Educational Decision-Making

Identification and Prioritization of the Elements of a Virtue-Based Organization Based on Educational Justice in the Education System

Glaserian Classic Grounded Theory in Practice: A Methodological Tutorial with an Empirical Illustration from Inventor-Entrepreneurs

The Role of Persian and Arabic Poetry Translations in Vocabulary Acquisition for EFL Learners at Iranian-Iraqi Border Universities

Identifying and Analyzing the Dimensions and Components of Family Education Management for Parents of Early Primary School Students

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