Book chapter
Controlled, Verified, and Understood: Identity and Status in the Field of Higher Education
Identities in Everyday Life, p.289
Oxford University Press
05/29/2019
DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190873066.003.0014
Abstract
Organizations, like individuals, are faced with the task of constructing an identity. To attract investors and consumers, a firm needs to develop a sense of “who we are” and “what we do.” Yet audiences may come to see the firm differently from how it desires to be seen. We address this alignment problem with a case study of the U.S. market for higher education. Identity verification is core to the research on individuals but peripheral in the literature on organizational identity, which instead focuses more on strategic identity construction. We use a network approach to capture both how schools view themselves (e.g., Yale nominates Princeton as a peer) and how the market responds (e.g., many schools view Yale and Princeton as peers). Results show that prestigious schools are more likely to (1) construct tightly controlled identities, (2) experience reciprocated nominations, and (3) define themselves in a manner consistent with the market’s response.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Controlled, Verified, and Understood: Identity and Status in the Field of Higher Education
- Creators
- Olga A NovoselovaFreda B LynnGraham N. S Miller
- Resource Type
- Book chapter
- Publication Details
- Identities in Everyday Life, p.289
- DOI
- 10.1093/oso/9780190873066.003.0014
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 05/29/2019
- Academic Unit
- Sociology and Criminology; Educational Policy and Leadership Studies
- Record Identifier
- 9984306351702771
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