Multi-level and multi-faceted institutional dynamics: neoliberal reforms in Korean universities, 2008–2013

This paper examines Korean universities’ responses to coercive pressures from the government towards neoliberal reforms. Unlike the general perception that coercive pressures from the government have a sweeping effect for all the organizations of the field, this paper shows variations among organizations in the adoption of a new practice promoted by the government. To explain this unexpected variation, we propose a theoretical framework of multi-level and multi-faceted institutional dynamics. Our empirical analysis shows that Korean universities’ adoption of admission officer system as a representative neoliberal global-standard practice varies depending on societal-level normative neoliberal discourses, field-level mimetic isomorphism among adjacent universities, and organization-level functional necessity.