What is reputation? And why is it vital for universities?

Mark Sudbury • March 17, 2025

Reputation has always been important in the university world – individual esteem amongst colleagues is central to the success of individual members of faculty. But in recent years, the reputation of universities themselves has become increasingly vital.

This has been influenced by many factors but at its heart is the widespread recognition that  reputation drives many key success factors for an institution – recruiting the best staff and students, attracting funding and building partnerships with other institutions and wider society.

And in a time of increasingly geo-political complexity, protecting reputation has never been more important.

What do we mean by reputation?

Many universities are now thinking strategically about how they build and maintain reputation, rather than just accepting that it just happens organically – or indeed considering that it is too nebulous a concept to influence.

A key part of that strategic focus is having a clear understanding of what institutional reputation actually represents, and how it sits alongside other concepts such as branding, perceptions and marketing.

Whilst academic studies – often focusing on the corporate world – suggest that a wide variety of definitions are used, it is best to think about reputation in a very simple way. For universities, it is what others think about our institution, and more specifically, it represents the perceptions of key stakeholder groups.

This contrasts with the concept of brand which, again, has a wide variety of definitions, but in its simplest form represents what you say and do to explain your university to other people.

What many universities are now focusing on is reputation management: the professional process of communicating the brand and working with stakeholders to improve your reputation and drive particular behaviours of your key audience groups.

What’s driving the focus on reputation?

So, many universities now understand clearly the need to understand the perceptions of our key audiences and to communicate effectively with them to influence behaviours. But what has been driving this increased focus on reputation globally, and why should universities prioritise this factor when faced by so many other challenges?

The first key driver is the increasingly globalised and competitive world in which universities operate. The best institutions are competing on an international stage to recruit the best staff and the brightest students; and the reputation of the institution plays a key role in decision-making amongst those groups.

Next is need for universities in recent years to be clear about the role they play in wider society. The ivory tower has long passed into memory, and key stakeholder like governments, local communities and businesses are looking to universities to be partners. Reputation is important for building the most effective partnerships.

A third reputation driver has been the growth of rankings at national and global levels. Many audiences see rankings as a proxy for reputation, and some of the league tables try to measure it specifically with some key audiences, notably global academics.

Whilst universities always need to be sceptical of the methodologies of the rankings, it is vital that they recognise how key audience groups are using them.

How to build reputation

Through the work of organisations like the THE World 100 Reputation Network and academic groups such as the Centre for University Governance & Reputation at the University of Navarra, there is now some clarity around the key activities required for building a strong reputation.

First, universities that have been successful in improving their perceptions with key audiences tend to be those that have taken a strategic approach, embedding reputation management into their corporate planning processes.

Second, universities need to think hard about who their key stakeholder audiences are and how they engage with and influence them.  Prospective students and global academics are, for many, the really key groups; but many other audiences including governments, businesses, alumni and NGOs also need to be prioritised.

In order to get noticed by these key groups, universities need to work hard on their points of difference. All universities make similar claims about excellence, research quality and student experience; finding ways of standing out are increasingly important and should be at the core your brand positioning. This applies particularly in research, where universities are finding that focusing their communications on a number of areas of real specialism is much more effective than trying to promote everything they are doing.

A key priority in recent years has been ensuring a strong focus on protecting reputation in a climate of volatility. Even the most prestigious universities have come under pressure recently as a result of political, social and economic challenges. So ensuring a strong focus on managing crises effectively with stakeholders is vital.

Finally, universities that are successful in building profile have realised that they need to invest in and measure the effectiveness of their reputation management activities. This needs to go beyond simply keeping an eye on your ranking position; it is about understanding how your key audiences group perceive your university.

Above all, when thinking about how to develop reputation, universities need to ensure that they stay true to their missions. The words of Socrates may help us here:

“The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavour to be what you desire to appear”.