Mergers and missions: investigating consequences for system diversity

Abstract In recent decades, many higher education systems around the world have been exposed to institutional mergers. While rationale for mergers has often related issues of improved quality, effectiveness and/or efficiency at level, fewer studies analysed how may affect diversity within landscape. Focusing on missions, current study analyses strategic plans both merged and non-merged institutions in Norway. The key finding is that not necessarily reduce system level diversity, although indeed organisational mission individual institutions.