Benefits and Challenges of Agricultural Students’ International Research Collaboration

Document Type : Original Research

Author
M. Pouratashi
Department of Comparative Studies in Higher Education, Institute for Research and Planning in Higher Education, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
10.22034/JAST.27.3.529
Abstract
International collaboration is the key element to expand the horizons of knowledge and technology and to solve sustainability problems. To plan and implement this issue as effectively as possible, this study analyzed the lived experiences of agricultural students about the benefits and challenges of international research collaboration. This applied research used a mixed-method approach in two steps. First, an interview was done with PhD-agriculture students at the University of Tehran, who had published at least one article with international co-authorship in an international journal. Interviews were continued with 19 participants until the saturation point was reached. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using the six stages of thematic analysis of Clarke and Braun (2006) and by conducting MAXQDA software. Secondly, a questionnaire was developed and conducted to investigate the importance of each of the items from the same 19 students who participated in the interview step. In this step, descriptive statistics were done by using SPSS software/ver23. Percentage, mean, and standard deviation were calculated for descriptive analysis. The findings showed that the international research collaboration had 24 benefit codes in the four dimensions of communication, scientific-research, academic, and personal-professional. On the other hand, 17 challenge codes were categorized into three groups of personal, motivational, and attitudinal group; managing the research and publication process; and cultural, technical, and economic group. Based on the means of benefits and challenges of students’ international research collaboration, the first ranks were “academic” with a mean of 4.06, and “personal, motivational, attitudinal” with a mean of 4.28 for benefits and challenges, respectively. According to the findings, building teamwork skills in higher education is recommended as it can positively promote students’ collaboration with others for research projects. This original and innovative study has theoretical and practical implications and value. The results are beneficial for universities to make decisions and plan activities that enhance students’ international research collaboration.

Keywords

Subjects

Abramo, G., D’Angelo, C.A., & Costa, F.D. (2019). The collaboration behavior of top scientists. Scientometrics, 118(1), 215–232.
Alamah, Z., AlSoussy, E., & Fakih, A. (2023). The Role of International Research Collaboration and Faculty Related Factors in Publication Citations: Evidence from Lebanon. Economies, 11(90), 1-24.
Aldieri, L., Kotsemir, M., & Vinci, C.P. (2018). The impact of research collaboration on academic performance: An empirical analysis for some European countries. Socioecon Plant Sci, 62, 13–30.
Altbach, P.G., & Knight, J. (2007). The internationalization of higher education: motivations and realities. J. Stud. Int. Educ., 11(3-4), 290-305.
Anderberg, S. (2020). The Contribution of Organic Agriculture to Poverty Reduction. In Breiling, M., and V. Anbumozhi (eds.), Vulnerability of Agricultural Production Networks and Global Food Value Chains Due to Natural Disasters. (pp. 42-72). Jakarta, Indonesia: Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia.
Avdeev, S. (2019). International collaboration in higher education research: a gravity model approach. Basic Research Program Working Papers, Series: Education. National Research University Higher School of Economics.
Bature, I.J., Atweh, B. (2019). Collaboration: a collective bargain for achieving quality mathematics classroom practice. Int. J. Educ. Methodol, 5(3), 347-361.
Bond, M., Marin, V. & Bedenlier, S. (2021). International Collaboration in the Field of Educational Research: A Delphi Study. J. New Approaches Educ. Res., 10(2), 190-213.
Bozeman, B., Gaughan, M., Youtie, J., Slade, C.P., & Rimes, H. (2016). Research collaboration experiences, good and bad: Dispatches from the front lines. Sci. Publ. Policy, 43(2), 226–244.
Bukvova, H. (2010). Studying research collaboration: A literature review. Sprouts: Working Papers on Information Systems, 10(3), 1–17.
Cakir, M. & McHenry, M.P. (2014) International research collaborations in agriculture. In: Cacioppo, L., (ed.) Environmental and Agricultural Research Summaries. Volume 1. Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge, New York, USA.
Caniglia, G., Luederitz, C., Groß, M., Muhr, M., John, B., Keeler, L. W., … Lang, D. (2017). Transnational collaboration for sustainability in higher education: Lessons from a systematic review. J. Clean. Prod., 168, 764–779.
Chen, K., Zhang, Y., & Fu, X. (2019). International research collaboration: An emerging domain of innovation studies? Research Policy, 48, 149–168.
Clarke, V., & Braun, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qual. Res. Psychol., 3(2), 77-101.
Cooke, N.J., & Hilton, M.L. (2015). Enhancing the effectiveness of team science. Washington, D.C.: e National Academies Press.
Delgadillo, L.M. (2016). Best Practices for Collaboration in Research. Family & Consum. Sci. Res. J., 45(1), 5-8.
Fitriani, S. & Muljono2, H. (2019). Beyond good governance: an ultimate key success for higher education quality. Journal of Education, Teaching and Learning, 4(1), 210-216.
Freshwater, D., Sherwood, G. & Drury, V. (2006). International research collaboration Issues, benefits and challenges of the global network. J. Res. Nurs., 11(40), 295-303.
Galmiche-Tejeda, A. (2013). Who is interdisciplinary? Two views, two goals, professionals and farmers. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 29(1), 77–95.
Gilmour, P.M. (2023). Enhancing research collaboration within a large university department. Innov. Educ. Teach., https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2023.2209064
Gunnarsson, A. & Wingborg, M. (2022). Reducing poverty through agriculture. Report. retrieved from: https://www.weeffect.org/app/uploads/2022/04/we-effect-reducing-poverty-through-agriculture.pdf
Hakkak M, Hozni S, Morovati H, Akhlaghi T. (2018). Research Diagnosis in Postgraduate Students of Guilan University of Medical Sciences. Res. Med. Edu., 10(2), 46-57
Horváth, J. (2016). A mezőgazdaság főbb ágazataival kapcsolatos kilátások a világon. A világ mezőgazdaságának fejlődési tendenciái. Szegedi Tudományegyetem Mezőgazdasági Kar, Hódmezővásárhely.
karimi etemad, F., yaghobi, J., & papzan, A. (2022). Identifying and explaining the most important ways to improve agricultural higher education in Zanjan Agricultural College. Journal of Agricultural Education Administration Research, 14(62), 144-170.
Kim, K.W. (2006) Measuring international research collaboration of peripheral countries: taking the context into consideration. Scientometrics, 66(2), 231–240.
Kumar, S., & Ratnavelu, K. (2016). Perceptions of Scholars in the Field of Economics on Co-Authorship Associations: Evidence from an International Survey. Plos One, 11(6), e0157633–e0157633.
Liu, X., Chen, G., Wen, S., & Han, X. (2022). Analysis and prediction of QS World University Rankings based on data mining technology. In Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Education and Multimedia Technology (ICEMT ’22) (pp. 60–64). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA.
Mali, F., Pustovrh, T., Cugmas, M., & Ferligoj, A. (2018). The personal factors in scientific collaboration: views held by Slovenian researchers. Corvinus J. Sociol. Soc. Policy., 9(2), 3-24.
Marginson, S. (2018). Global cooperation and national competition in the world-class university sector. In World-Class Universities; Brill Sense: Paderborn, Germany, pp. 13–53.
Mendonca, S. (2009). Brave Old World: Accounting for 'High-Tech' Knowledge in 'Low-Tech' Industries. Res. Policy, 38, 470-482.
Mohamed El Mahdy, Q. (2021). The role of scientific research in the field of agricultural development. Int. J. Mod. Agric. Environ., 1(1), 22-37.
Ni, P., & An, X. (2018). Relationship between international collaboration papers and their citations from an economic perspective. Scientometrics, 116, 863–77
Niederkrotenthaler, T., Gunnell, D., Arensman, E., Pirkis, J., Appleby, L., Hawton, K., … Platt, S. (2020). Suicide Research, Prevention, and COVID-19. Crisis, 41(5), 321-330.
Osabohien, R., Matthew, O., Gershon, O., Ogunbiyi, T., & Nwosu, E. (2019). Agriculture development, employment generation and poverty reduction in West Africa. Open Agric., 13, 82-89.
Osabohien, R., Osabuohien, E. & Urhie, E. (2018). Food security, institutional framework and technology: Examining the nexus in Nigeria using ARDL approach. Curr. Nutr. Food Sci., 14 (2), 154-163
Parr, A. (2022). Knowledge-driven Actions: Transforming Higher Education for Global Sustainability. France: UNESCO.
Penniston, K.L. (2022). Academic Research Collaboration. In: Nakada, S. & Patel, S., Editors. Navigating Organized Urology, Pp. 69-88. Springer.
Pouratashi, M. & Zamani, A. (2020). Students' psychological characteristics and its relationship with exhaustion, cynicism, and academic inefficacy. Int. J. Knowl. Learn., 13(2), 98-109.
Fekete, M.F., Balyi, Z. & Szűcs, I. (2014). Some specific aspects of the efficiency of the agricultural economy. Economy, 58(6), 564-576.
Tugendhat, H. & Alemu, D. (2016). Chinese agricultural training courses for African officials: Between power and partnerships. World Dev., 81(1), 71-81.
Waham, J.J., Asfahani, A, & Ulfa, R.A. (2023). Global Trends in Higher Education: A Comparative Analysis of Enrollment and Quality Assurance Mechanisms. Edujavare. Int. J. Educ. Res., 1(1), 49-60.
Wai-Chan, S. (2017). International research collaboration creates higher impact. Guest Editorial. Nord. J. Nurs, 37(2), 59–60.
Wöhlert, R. (2020). Communication in international collaborative research teams. A review of the state of the art and open research questions. Stud. Commun. Media., 9(2), 151-217.
Yemini, M. (2019). International Research Collaborations as Perceived by Top-Performing Scholars. J. Stud. Int. Educ., 25(1), 3-18.
Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology
Volume 27, Issue 3
May and June 2025
Pages 529-541