Abstract:

European university alliances are expected to foster inclusive academic environments that support collaboration, mobility and shared educational innovation. However, translating these strategic ambitions into everyday institutional practices requires significant organizational and cultural change. Understanding how organizational culture and climate influence the development of inclusive academic environments has therefore become an important research and policy concern in higher education.

This study investigates the relationship between organizational culture, institutional climate and perceptions of inclusion within a European university alliance. The research was conducted within the Erasmus+ project eBelong: Sense of Belonging in the Context of New Higher Education Alliances, coordinated by the University of Bucharest through the UB Learning Centre and implemented in partnership with five universities from the CIVIS alliance: the University of Bucharest, Aix-Marseille Université, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen. The project aimed to explore how institutional cultures can support the development of a stronger sense of belonging and inclusion across partner universities.

The study used a mixed-methods design combining quantitative and qualitative approaches. Organizational culture and climate were assessed using the Organizational Culture Inventory (OCI) and Organizational Effectiveness Inventory (OEI) developed by Human Synergistics. In addition, focus group discussions with academic staff from partner universities explored perceptions of collaboration, leadership, institutional support and inclusion within the alliance context.

Results reveal a pronounced gap between existing and desired organizational cultures. Current norms are dominated by defensive orientations including avoidance of risk, conventional patterns of operation, and limited inter-unit collaboration. Academic staff envision an alternative culture characterized by mutual respect, shared purpose, empowerment, and constructive engagement. The findings suggest that strategic ambitions for inclusion within university alliances are not automatically reflected in everyday practices, governance structures, or human resource systems.

Key organizational levers identified for fostering inclusive cultures include:
(1) clarifying and operationalizing alliance mission and values;
(2) empowering academic stakeholders through participatory governance;
(3) redesigning reward systems to recognize collaborative and inclusive practices;
(4) enhancing job design to support autonomy and interdependence; and
(5) developing leadership capacity aligned with constructive norms.

Existing cultural patterns tend to reflect defensive norms such as risk avoidance, conventional decision-making and limited cross-departmental collaboration. In contrast, participants express a strong preference for constructive cultural norms. These results highlight the importance of organizational design, leadership practices and institutional support mechanisms in shaping inclusive environments within higher education alliances. By providing empirical evidence on cultural dynamics across partner institutions, the study contributes to ongoing discussions on how European university alliances can move from formal collaboration frameworks to genuinely inclusive and collaborative academic communities.

Keywords:

Higher education alliances, organizational culture, inclusion, sense of belonging, CIVIS.