Which Leaders Are You Following? Postsecondary Institution Vaccine Policy Influences and Implications in Fall 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced colleges and universities in the United States to make decisions about how to best protect students and employees from the virus. In this article, we investigate the factors that lead to human resources decisions to mandate vaccines among students and employees. We d...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of Education Human Resources Vol. 41; no. 1; pp. 74 - 109
Main Authors Marsicano, Christopher R, Martin, Rylie C, Owusu, Samuel M
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published University of Toronto Press 01.01.2023
Subjects
College Faculty
College Students
Correlation
COVID-19
Crisis Management
Decision Making
Government Role
Higher Education
Human Resources
Immunization Programs
Organizational Theories
Pandemics
Private Colleges
School Personnel
School Policy
State Policy
North Carolina
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Summary:The COVID-19 pandemic has forced colleges and universities in the United States to make decisions about how to best protect students and employees from the virus. In this article, we investigate the factors that lead to human resources decisions to mandate vaccines among students and employees. We draw heavily on the crisis management literature and the neo-institutional theory of isomorphism to investigate the ways in which coercive, mimetic, and normative pressures relate to institutional behaviors. Our findings suggest that coercive pressures may influence an institution's decision to require vaccines for students and employees. State bans against vaccine mandates are negatively correlated with the implementation of a vaccine mandate for students. Mimetic isomorphism may also be a strong influence on an institution's decision to require vaccines for students and employees. Regression models indicate that an institution is more likely to require vaccines for students and staff if their peer institutions also require vaccines.
DOI:10.3138/jehr-2021-0068