The impact of stakeholders in the development of academic disciplines in higher education is a somewhat infrequently addressed topic in research. This article describes an institutional change and legitimacy formation process from a dialectical perspective by analysing organisational interpretations of and strategic responses to external pressures in higher education. When the interests of stakeholders differ, the pressure between actors creates tensions that are resolved by calculated actions. This article shows how strategic actions of an individual university act as drivers for institutional change in higher education. The results of this study show that changes in isomorphic structures arise through calculated micro-level actions that change the existing path dependency in decision-making and build political legitimacy. Tension-driven process leads to national-level, disciplinary-level and organisation-level changes as an outcome of dynamic interactions and contradictions between actors in a highly competitive and regulated field in higher education. The empirical focus of the study is in the engineering and technology field in Finland. A single case study design allows us to understand in-depth relations between actors to gain contextualised insight into a complex phenomenon. This study reveals dialectical dynamics between universities and between regional- and national-level actors in the development of an academic discipline.

利益相关者对高等教育学科发展的影响是研究中很少涉及的话题。本文通过分析高等教育外部压力的组织解读和战略应对，从辩证的角度描述了制度变迁和合法性形成的过程。当利益相关者的利益不同时，参与者之间的压力就会产生紧张关系，而这种紧张关系可以通过有计划的行动来解决。本文展示了单个大学的战略行动如何成为高等教育制度变革的驱动力。本研究的结果表明，同构结构的变化是通过计算微观层面的行动而产生的，这些行动改变了决策中现有的路径依赖并建立了政治合法性。张力驱动的过程导致国家层面、学科层面和组织层面的变化，这是高等教育高度竞争和监管领域中参与者之间动态互动和矛盾的结果。该研究的实证重点是芬兰的工程和技术领域。单个案例研究设计使我们能够了解参与者之间的深入关系，从而获得对复杂现象的情境洞察。这项研究揭示了大学之间以及地区和国家层面的学科发展参与者之间的辩证动态。该研究的实证重点是芬兰的工程和技术领域。单个案例研究设计使我们能够了解参与者之间的深入关系，从而获得对复杂现象的情境洞察。这项研究揭示了大学之间以及地区和国家层面的学科发展参与者之间的辩证动态。该研究的实证重点是芬兰的工程和技术领域。单个案例研究设计使我们能够了解参与者之间的深入关系，从而获得对复杂现象的情境洞察。这项研究揭示了大学之间以及地区和国家层面的学科发展参与者之间的辩证动态。