Factors affecting the content of universities' mission statements

An analysis of the United Kingdom higher education system

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4098447
AutoresMarco Seeber (0000-0002-0162-6289, Department of Sociology, University of Gent, Gent, Belgium, autor correspondente), Vitaliano Barberio (0000-0002-2615-5006, Department of Public Management, WU University, Vienna, Austria), Jeroen Huisman (0000-0003-2241-9980, Department of Sociology, University of Gent, Gent, Belgium), Jelle Mampaey (0000-0002-6975-5749, Department of Sociology, University of Gent, Gent, Belgium)
Ano2019
Volume44
Fascículo2
Páginas230-244
Data de publicação2019-02-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoStudies in Higher Education (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0307-5079 • E-ISSN: 1470-174X
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03075079.2017.1349743
OpenAlexW2733470141
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas31
Referências citadas42

This article explores the factors affecting the content of universities’ mission statements. We conceptualize missions as identity narratives, a type of symbolic representation of an organization. Based on the literature on organizational identity we argue that universities need to address two major challenges when crafting their mission statements, (i) to pursuit legitimacy in spite of multiple and competing expectations, and (ii) to properly balance similarity and distinctiveness from other universities. We identify factors that affect this strategic effort and develop hypotheses that we test in the empirical context of the United Kingdom’s higher education system. Results show that (i) among competing expectations, universities choose claims that are plausible to external constituents and consistent with the values of internal members, and that (ii) they adopt claims similar to universities belonging to the same organizational form while differentiating from geographically closer universities in order to reduce competitive overlap

Business · Content analysis · Empirical research · Epistemology · Higher education · Legitimacy · Narrative · Optimal distinctiveness theory · Organizational commitment · Organizational identity · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Social science · Sociology · Higher Education Governance and Development · Law · Organizational Leadership and Management Strategies · Organizational Strategy and Culture · Psychology · Social Psychology