Between survival and strategy: organizational actorhood and institutional reproduction in Turkish foundation universities

This study explores how Turkish foundation universities construct their organizational actorhood within a higher education (HE) system that combines strong regulatory control with increasing market orientation. Drawing on document analysis of 29 current strategic plans, the study integrates three complementary theoretical perspectives of governmentality, organizationality, and resilient actorhood to conceptualize varying degrees of organizational actorhood. The findings indicate that most institutions reproduce a demand-absorbing identity, emphasizing teaching and market responsiveness over research or societal engagement. While strategic plans frequently express ambitions for innovation and internationalization, these remain largely ceremonial, lacking concrete mechanisms, resource allocation, and measurable outcomes. Only a small number of universities exhibit mission-oriented differentiation, particularly in health, aviation, and engineering-related fields. The analysis reveals a structural dual dependency on state regulation and market pressures, which constrains institutional autonomy and reduces organizational diversity. The paper concludes by proposing an analytical typology of three ideal types of organizational actorhood (ceremonial, instrumental, and strategic) for understanding limited differentiation in hybrid systems.