Organizational Identity of Universities: A Review of the Literature from 1972 to 2014

Résumé

Organizational identity provides an increasingly large number of researchers with a theoretical lens for examining current transformations of the university. The primary objective of this article is to propose an extensive, systematic overview of the literature published on the subject between 1972 and 2014. The analysis of 120 empirical studies reveals a literature which is rich but dispersed, in theoretical, epistemological and methodological terms alike; thriving since the 2000s, it is mainly US but increasingly globalised. After identifying six main research categories according to the classical distinctions found in the organizational identity literature, we propose a series of avenues for discussion bearing on the status of identity as an indicator of changes at work in the university, their level and depth, the linkage between the concepts of market and institutional field and finally, the epistemological implications of the international nature of this literature.