Nested identities and identification in higher education institutions—the role of organizational and academic identities

• Published in: Higher education Vol. 85; no. 2; pp. 359 - 377
• Main Authors: Borlaug, Siri Brorstad, Tellmann, Silje Maria, Vabø, Agnete
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.02.2023; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Academic staff; Acquisitions & mergers; College Faculty; Education; Educational aspects; Foreign Countries; Higher Education; Human resource management; Identification; Identity; Institutional Characteristics; Institutions; Norway; Organizational Change; Organizational culture; Professional Identity; Psychological aspects; School employees; Social aspects; Teacher Attitudes; Universities and colleges; Norway; Organizational identities; Identification; Merger; Academic identities; Higher education institutions
• ISSN: 0018-1560; 1573-174X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10734-022-00837-5

Academic staff hold multiple identities by relating to the organization and to their profession. Merging higher education institutions involves organizational changes which may impact identities of academic staff. This paper studies potential impacts on staff perceptions of their organizational and academic identities through a 2-year in-depth study of a merger between a large university and three university colleges in Norway. We find that academics have multiple nested identities and engage in identification at different levels. While they may identify with the new organization, they may simultaneously experience tensions and pressures on their academic identity, or they may have strong academic identity and low identification with the new organization. Moreover, space to develop local accommodations in the new organization and access to symbolic resources plays significant roles in the identification processes.