How do US universities want to be perceived? Factors affecting the (inter)national identity claims in mission statements
研究分析了120所美国大学的使命陈述，发现其身份主张可分为五类国内和五类国际主张，并探讨了制度压力如何影响大学在国内外定位间的平衡。
Higher education institutions (HEIs) often function in an environment where various institutional pressures force them to position themselves on a national-international orientation scale in order to gain legitimacy in the eyes of different constituents with different expectations. Empirical insights, however, on how HEIs respond to these forces and position themselves within this debate are largely lacking. Hence, this study builds on organizational identity theory and institutional theory to assess the national and international identity claims expressed by the mission statements, a dominant organizational identity narrative, of HEIs as well as institutional factors affecting the selected position. A mixed methods analysis of the mission statements of 120 US universities indicates that universities’ identity claims can be classified in five categories of national claims and five of international claims. The findings suggest that institutional forces affect the position of universities on the national/international continuum but that universities’ attempts to reconcile these pressures are much more refined than expected as universities try to strike a subtle balance between being similar and different.