From academic identity to academic branding: organisational culture and cultural homogenisation in the newer normal of global higher education

Abstract

In the post‑pandemic ‘newer normal’, higher education has consolidated market‑oriented, audit‑driven organisational cultures rather than returning to pre‑2020 norms. This paper argues that academic branding now operates as a governing cultural regime reshaping academic labour and identity. Drawing on institutional isomorphism, academic capitalism, and the glonacal agency heuristic, it shows how accountability regimes, rankings, and professional socialisation normalise reputational labour and metric visibility. These dynamics drive cultural homogenisation across institutions while redistributing risk onto individual academics, particularly early‑career and international scholars. The paper concludes by outlining counter‑cultural alternatives grounded in epistemic plurality, care‑based practices, and renewed public‑good orientations.