I Warmly Welcome You …’: Institutional Identity Construction in Vice-Chancellors’ Welcome Messages in Ghanaian Universities
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70091/Atras/vol07no02.11Keywords:
Ghana, institutional identity, leadership discourse, Vice-Chancellors, welcome messagesAbstract
Welcome messages from Vice-Chancellors play a significant role in universities’ official communications, yet they are often overlooked as important sites for constructing institutional identity. This study examines how institutional identity is constructed through the welcome messages of Vice-Chancellors at public universities in Ghana. Grounded in Organizational Identity Theory (Albert & Whetten, 1985), the study employs a qualitative multiple-case study. The data consist of publicly available welcome messages sourced from the official websites of eight (8) public universities in Ghana, collected through purposive sampling. Thematic analysis was employed to analyze the data. The findings indicate that Vice-Chancellors’ welcome messages construct various identities, characterized by prestige, research, institutional mandates, and student-centredness. Notably, a faith-inflected identity also emerged. In addition to constructing institutional identity, the findings highlight how Vice-Chancellors construct their own leadership identities by positioning themselves as legitimate authorities within their institutions. They portray themselves as visionary, strategic leaders who articulate the future direction of their universities. These leadership identities personalize and validate institutional narratives, thereby enhancing credibility and strategic positioning. This study contributes to the fields of institutional discourse and higher education communication by recognizing Vice-Chancellors’ welcome messages as a distinct genre for constructing both institutional and leadership identities, while also broadening the empirical focus to include public universities in Ghana.
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