The Construction of Academic Identity in Turkish University Institutional Documents: A Content Analysis of Strategic Plans, Appointment Criteria and Activity Reports

Abstract

This study examines institutional documents from 14 Turkish universities and the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) using qualitative content analysis. All 57 identified documents – strategic plans, academic appointment and promotion criteria, mission-vision statements, and activity or monitoring reports – were analyzed. The resulting amount of approximately 1.1 million words was analyzed through word-frequency analysis, thematic coding across nine domains, and gap analysis. Four patterns emerge. First, research output occupies substantially more space than teaching activity in appointment criteria, with marked variation across institutions. Second, the values articulated in mission-vision statements – service to society, critical thinking, and the development of individuals – find little measurable counterpart in appointment criteria or activity reports. Third, internationalization discourse appears far more prominently than regional development or local contribution. Fourth, universities in different institutional categories show limited divergence in document language, a convergence better explained by discourse patterns shaped at the system level than by institutional distinctiveness. These findings suggest that institutional documents do not merely define academic identity but actively construct it, providing an empirical foundation for future discourse-analytic research.