Memories and Dreams of Organizations: Narrating identity in the mission statements of academia in Israel, 2000-2018

• In Event: 3429 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 9. Expansion of Higher Education

Abstract

We examine the identity narratives that organizations constructed under conditions of embeddeness in a complex institutional field. Specifically, we turn to mission statements of all academic organizations in Israel, following such texts in the period between 2000-2018. We argue that currently Israeli universities and colleges are under pressure to achieve global excellence, satisfy Israeli needs and serve Israel’s diverse social groups, they are also required to meet standards of proper governance because of increased regulation and the advice of expert consultancy, and they are all wrestling with Israeli, Jewish, Zionist, Hebrew and Palestinian legacies. Data analyses reveal patterns of both variation and similarity in identity narratives across the field of academic organizations in Israel. Following a thematic narrative analysis, which pays attention not only to content but also to the narrative account and story, we also analyze the distribution of identity narratives – namely, memories and dreams of belonging, hopes, affinities, nightmares, and fears – across the varied field of Israeli academia. Derived categorizations of organizational identity in Israel reveal the richness of responses of academia in general to global complexities.

Authors

• Ravit Mizrahi-Shtelman, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

• Gili S. Drori, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem