ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to advance an understanding of prestige seeking as it plays out within the BAI context, establish its distinct characterization, and raise awareness of what is at risk with these pursuits. This chapter utilizes a model that reconceptualizes prestige seeking within the current context of higher education. The model is applied to a composite case of a BAI, emphasizing examples of policies and practices from BAIs and their contexts to capture how prestige seeking is distinct amongst BAIs, the ways policies from the external environment interact with BAIs to encourage striving, and the policies and practices intrinsically driven by organizational actors that do the same. This chapter serves to deepen how we engage in the study of prestige within these institutional contexts to inform leadership, policy, and practice that works to advance the BAI mission.
