Explaining the Process of Tehran Adolescents’ Tendency Toward Educational Migration: A Grounded Theory Study

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to explain the process through which adolescents in Tehran develop a tendency toward educational migration and to propose an indigenous theoretical model of the interaction among individual, familial, social, and structural factors.

Methodology: This qualitative study was conducted using Charmaz’s constructivist grounded theory approach. The participants were 25 adolescents aged 15 to 18 years living in Tehran who had either a serious tendency toward, or had taken practical steps for, domestic or international educational migration. Participants were selected through purposive sampling and the snowball technique, and sampling continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews lasting between 45 and 90 minutes. Data collection and analysis were conducted simultaneously through initial, focused, and selective coding, constant comparative analysis, and MAXQDA software. To enhance the trustworthiness of the findings, credibility, dependability, confirmability, and transferability were considered.

Findings: The analysis generated 371 open codes, 25 focused concepts, and seven selective categories. The selective categories included the construction of migratory aspiration, the field of family forces, the social ecology of migration, push–pull structures, psychological self-regulation, motivational and identity architecture, and operationalization and future orientation. The core category was identified as “educational migration as a project of self-authentication within the tension between individual agency, family dynamics, and structural pressures.” This theoretical model indicates that adolescents gradually transform migration from an initial aspiration into a meaningful identity-oriented and future-directed project.

Conclusion: The findings suggest that Tehran adolescents’ tendency toward educational migration is not merely an educational or economic choice, but a multidimensional identity-based process shaped by personal aspirations, family negotiations, peer and digital networks, socioeconomic inequalities, dissatisfaction with educational structures, and the search for agency. The proposed model may provide practical implications for school counselors, families, and educational policymakers seeking to understand, manage, and respond to adolescents’ educational migration tendencies.