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Universities as Agencies pp 251–269Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Socially Embedded Universities and the Search for Meaning

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Part of the book series: Public Sector Organizations ((PSO))

Abstract

Based on the different contributions in the book, the current chapter reflects upon the relationship between impression management and the internal organization of universities. The chapter acknowledges how universities are adapting to processes of formalization, rationalization and impression management which—some suggest—transform the university from being an institution into becoming an organization. However, the chapter argues that the same drivers that trigger the development of stronger organizational actor-hood also open up for a possible positioning of the university as a socially responsible and moral institution where the cultural, social and economic purposes of the university are balanced. As such, the chapter identifies several paradoxes related to the current development where some of the inherent characteristics of the university may be re-invented.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Bjørn Stensaker

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  1. Bjørn Stensaker
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Correspondence to Bjørn Stensaker .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Tom Christensen

  2. Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Åse Gornitzka

  3. Stanford Graduate School of Education, Stanford, California, USA

    Francisco O. Ramirez

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Stensaker, B. (2019). Socially Embedded Universities and the Search for Meaning. In: Christensen, T., Gornitzka, Å., Ramirez, F. (eds) Universities as Agencies. Public Sector Organizations. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92713-8_10

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