Purpose: A competitive advantage based on the empowerment of professors can create a competitive advantage for the university. As a result, this study was conducted with the aim of explaining the background factors of competitive advantage based on the empowerment of university professors. Methodology: In an applied research from type of qualitative, the educational elites of universities and non-governmental-non-profit higher education institutions of Mashhad city were investigated. For this purpose and according to the principle of theoretical saturation, 21 people were selected as a sample with the purposive sampling method and were individually subjected to semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed with open, axial and selective coding methods in MAXQDA software. Findings: The findings indicated that for the background factors of competitive advantage based on the empowerment of university professors were identified 34 indicators, 9 sub categories and 4 main categories. The main categories were included the categories of organizational (with 2 sub categories of organizational dependence and governance view), cognitive (with 3 sub categories of organizational learning, knowledge management and educability), psychological (with 2 sub categories of limited control and passive thinking) and cultural (with 2 sub categories of organizational culture and organizational ethics). Also, according to the main and sub categories, the pattern of background factors of competitive advantage based on the empowerment of university professors was drawn. Conclusion: According to the pattern of background factors of competitive advantage based on the empowerment of university professors in the present study, to create a competitive advantage based on the empowerment of university professors, can be provided the context for the realization of background factors through the identified main and sub categories.
