Socio-cultural transformation within Indonesian academics: cases in Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama universities

Purpose This present study aims to explicate the model of academic socio-cultural transformation in the universities affiliated with Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia’s two biggest Muslim organizations. In particular, Muhammadiyah is known to practice a modernist-refractive approach, while NU holds the traditional-reflective value. However, anomalies have recently occurred in their universities, narrowing the gap in the dichotomous perspective of these identities. Both organizations’ universities have transformed from teaching to research universities, representing changes from plutocratic to meritocratic institutions. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative design with a phenomenological approach was employed. The data were collected through participatory observation and in-depth interviews from 11 participants chosen through purposive sampling. The obtained data were analyzed using the framework of Miles et al . (2014) utilizing the model of academic socio-cultural transformation occurring in ideological-prismatic universities. Findings The results show that the academic socio-cultural transformation within these ideological-prismatic universities is driven by a protective motive of religious ideology. Both organizations strive for institutional transformation by combining religions and social religious discourse, tailoring religious moderation, national values and science within ideological university institutions. Harmonization between those elements and the socio-anthropological transformation of society is also needed. These factors are dialectical, termed as the transcendental dialectic model, to produce religious awareness, which falls within the scope of religious ideology and methodology. Originality/value This study implies that prismatic universities hold contradictory values from academic socio-cultural norms. In particular, both Muhammadiyah and NU universities have shifted from plutocracy to meritocracy, as shown through the distinctive arrangement between the formal rules and the implementation of these rules.