Between vision and realisation: a policy design diagnosis of SDG integration in Saudi Arabia’s higher education transformation

Purpose This study examines how Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 higher education reforms structure incentives for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) integration. It offers a diagnostic analysis of how policy design features – especially clarity and ambiguity – shape institutional responses to transversal sustainability agendas and the reform’s contribution to economic diversification. Design/methodology/approach Using qualitative analysis of 42 documents across four tiers – national policies, institutional plans, external evaluations and performance data (2016–2024) – the study applies Matland’s (1995) ambiguity–conflict framework. A hybrid deductive-inductive coding framework operationalises his dimensions, grounded in evidence of temporal, procedural and metric tensions. Findings The diagnostic reveals a policy configuration marked by high clarity on economic ends but interpretive ambiguity in operational means, with latent structural conflict between centralised accountability and professional discretion. Evidence from five universities, ministry dashboards and external evaluations aligns with Matland’s symbolic implementation quadrant: institutions prioritise demonstrable compliance over risk-intensive innovation. SDG mapping and ranking participation outweigh curriculum redesign and interdisciplinary research. Originality/value Reframing the implementation gap as a design pathology, the paper argues that policy blueprints structure institutional incentives, making outcomes predictable. Drawing on institutional and transformative change theory, it proposes tiered autonomy, quality enhancement cycles and multi-year investment to better align accountability with adaptive capacity for transformational change and economic diversification.