TY - JOUR
T1 - Internal branding in higher education
T2 - dialectical tensions underlying the discursive legitimation of a new brand of student diversity
AU - Mampaey, Jelle
AU - Schtemberg, Vanja
AU - Schijns, Jos
AU - Huisman, Jeroen
AU - Waeraas, Arild
PY - 2020/2/23
Y1 - 2020/2/23
N2 - Most studies on branding in higher education focus on external branding or image-building towards external stakeholders such as students. Internal branding is an underexplored topic, even though it should be considered as important as external branding. Internal branding is about achieving the necessary internal support for the external brand. Drawing on the theoretical concept of discursive legitimation, we explore the strategies that contribute to an internally supported new brand with student diversity as brand value. We conducted a case study of a Flemish university college that has (largely) succeeded in achieving internal support for its new external brand of student diversity. Analyzing the case from the perspective of Critical Discourse Analysis, we specifically zoomed in on the dialectical tensions underlying the discursive legitimation of this new brand. We identified three specific tensions, which illustrate the inherent complexity of the internal branding process: authorization as (dis)empowerment, normalization as (dis)empowerment and moralization as (dis)empowerment.
AB - Most studies on branding in higher education focus on external branding or image-building towards external stakeholders such as students. Internal branding is an underexplored topic, even though it should be considered as important as external branding. Internal branding is about achieving the necessary internal support for the external brand. Drawing on the theoretical concept of discursive legitimation, we explore the strategies that contribute to an internally supported new brand with student diversity as brand value. We conducted a case study of a Flemish university college that has (largely) succeeded in achieving internal support for its new external brand of student diversity. Analyzing the case from the perspective of Critical Discourse Analysis, we specifically zoomed in on the dialectical tensions underlying the discursive legitimation of this new brand. We identified three specific tensions, which illustrate the inherent complexity of the internal branding process: authorization as (dis)empowerment, normalization as (dis)empowerment and moralization as (dis)empowerment.
U2 - 10.1080/07294360.2019.1674252
DO - 10.1080/07294360.2019.1674252
M3 - Article
VL - 39
SP - 230
EP - 243
JO - Higher Education Research & Development
JF - Higher Education Research & Development
SN - 0729-4360
IS - 2
ER -