Understanding the Relationship Between Organizational Identity and Capacities for Scaled Change within Higher Education Intermediary Organizations

Author(s):  
Adrianna Kezar
2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-112
Author(s):  
Rocco Palumbo ◽  
Rosalba Manna

Purpose Whistleblowing – i.e. the employees’ decision to report illegal, immoral and/or illegitimate practices performed by peers, supervisors and/or subordinates – involves a contestation of the existing organizational power. Therefore, it challenges the whistleblower’s identification with the organization. Nevertheless, whistleblowing has been rarely related to organizational identity. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap, investigating employees’ whistleblowing intentions in the context of higher education. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative, exploratory analysis concerning the whistleblowing episodes that occurred in the whole population of Italian publicly owned universities and higher education institutions was performed (n=69). Secondary data about whistleblowing were retrieved from the annual reports arranged by the supervisor for the prevention of corruption and the promotion of transparency. Findings Most of Italian publicly owned higher education institutions did not experience whistleblowing. Conversely, less than a quarter of the sample reported at least ones whistleblowing procedure. The homogeneity of organizational identity seemed to discourage the willingness of academic employees to report organizational wrongdoings. ICT-based and anonymized whistleblowing systems were found to support the propensity of academics to blow the whistle. Practical implications Tailored interventions are needed to address the interplay between organizational identity and academic employees’ whistleblowing intentions. The culture of silence predominating in institutions characterized by a hegemonic organizational identity should be overwhelmed. Prevention measures intended to guarantee the whistleblower’s anonymity through the use of ICT-based platforms are useful to support the academic employees’ willingness to blow the whistle in case of organizational misconduct. Originality/value This is one of the first attempts to investigate the interplay between organizational identity and whistleblowing in public sector organizations.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 206-217
Author(s):  
Karijn G. Nijhoff

This paper explores the relationship between education and labour market positioning in The Hague, a Dutch city with a unique labour market. One of the main minority groups, Turkish-Dutch, is the focus in this qualitative study on higher educated minorities and their labour market success. Interviews reveal that the obstacles the respondents face are linked to discrimination and network limitation. The respondents perceive “personal characteristics” as the most important tool to overcoming the obstacles. Education does not only increase their professional skills, but also widens their networks. The Dutch education system facilitates the chances of minorities in higher education through the “layering” of degrees. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Snider Bailey

<?page nr="1"?>Abstract This article investigates the ways in which service-learning manifests within our neoliberal clime, suggesting that service-learning amounts to a foil for neoliberalism, allowing neoliberal political and economic changes while masking their damaging effects. Neoliberalism shifts the relationship between the public and the private, structures higher education, and promotes a façade of community-based university partnerships while facilitating a pervasive regime of control. This article demonstrates that service-learning amounts to an enigma of neoliberalism, making possible the privatization of the public and the individualizing of social problems while masking evidence of market-based societal control. Neoliberal service-learning distances service from teaching and learning, allows market forces to shape university-community partnerships, and privatizes the public through dispossession by accumulation.


Author(s):  
David Willetts

Universities have a crucial role in the modern world. In England, entrance to universities is by nation-wide competition which means English universities have an exceptional influence on schools--a striking theme of the book. This important book first investigates the university as an institution and then tracks the individual on their journey to and through university. In A University Education, David Willetts presents a compelling case for the ongoing importance of the university, both as one of the great institutions of modern society and as a transformational experience for the individual. The book also makes illuminating comparisons with higher education in other countries, especially the US and Germany. Drawing on his experience as UK Minister for Universities and Science from 2010 to 2014, the author offers a powerful account of the value of higher education and the case for more expansion. He covers controversial issues in which he was involved from access for disadvantaged students to the introduction of L9,000 fees. The final section addresses some of the big questions for the future, such as the the relationship between universities and business, especially in promoting innovation.. He argues that the two great contemporary trends of globalisation and technological innovation will both change the university significantly. This is an authoritative account of English universities setting them for the first time in their new legal and regulatory framework.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ubirajara José Picanço de Miranda Junior ◽  
Maria Rita Carvalho Garbi Novaes ◽  
Henrique Batista Araújo Santos ◽  
João Fellipe Santos Tatsch ◽  
Rafael Sanches Ferreira ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Among the processes to be experienced by any organization during its establishment is the formation of an organizational identity. This process can be understood as the activity and event through which an organization becomes unique in the mind of its members. An organizational identity leads to an identification and both are directly associated with the success of an institution. This study is about a public higher education institution in health in its early years, with distinctive characteristics in the country where it is situated. In spite of having been successful in the graduation of its students it has fragile institutional bases, lack of autonomy and internal problems common to other institutions of this type. Thus, this study was conducted to understand how this institution defined itself among its own members, the elements of its identity and what justified its relative success despite its weaknesses. Methods A mixed-method approach was used to evaluate how a representative portion of this organization identifies with it. For the qualitative study two focus groups were conducted with transcripts submitted to content analysis proposed by Bardin, culminating in results from which a Likert scale-based questionnaire was elaborated and applied to 297 subjects. Results There were six central elements of the organizational identity made evident by the focus groups: political / ideological conflict; active teaching and learning methodologies; location / separation of campuses; time of existence; teaching career; political-administrative transformations. The quantitative analysis revealed in more detail the general impressions raised in the focus groups. Most results were able to demonstrate distinct identifications of the same identity with its exposed weaknesses. Conclusions Lack of autonomy, administrative and structural shortcomings and ideological or political conflicts presented themselves as problems capable of destabilizing the identity of a public higher education institution. On the other hand, one way to combat such problems is through the development of the institution itself, particularly by becoming more active and useful to the community and seeking in a common interest to the higher administration agencies.


2021 ◽  
pp. 107780122097880
Author(s):  
Golshan Golriz ◽  
Skye Miner

This article uses the 2008 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey to explore the relationship between religion and women’s attitudes toward intimate partner violence (IPV). It also asks whether modernization, as measured by having a higher education or living in an urban area, can mediate or moderate this relationship. Using latent class analysis to create categories of women’s wife-beating attitudes, and multinomial regression to explore the relationship between religion, education, and urbanity, we find no significant relationship between being Muslim and justifying wife beating. Our data further suggest that neither education nor urbanity mediate or moderate this relationship.


2021 ◽  
pp. 174619792098136
Author(s):  
Sansom Milton

In this paper, the role of higher education in post-uprising Libya is analysed in terms of its relationship with transitional processes of democratization and civic development. It begins by contextualising the Libyan uprising within the optimism of the ‘Arab Spring’ transitions in the Middle East. Following this, the relationship between higher education and politics under the Qadhafi regime and in the immediate aftermath of its overthrow is discussed. A case-study of a programme designed to support Tripoli University in contributing towards democratisation will then be presented. The findings of the case-study will be reflected upon to offer a set of recommendations for international actors engaging in political and civic education in conflict-affected settings, in particular in the Middle East.


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