Mission and Vision Statements of Universities Worldwide: A Content Analysis

Mission and vision statements (MS and VS) are the most frequently used strategic planning tools. In the early 1980s, they were adopted by the higher education sector. Both tools are now crucial practices implemented in universities worldwide. Despite the broad literature on the topic, most of the results are restricted to national contexts and based on reduced samples with no open access digital data. This study used Voyant Tools to perform a content analysis of 338 MS and 291 VS from universities worldwide. The main results show: a VS trend towards global influence; an overall push for research and teaching; an absence of quantitative elements; no similarities between terms used by private firms and universities; MS tend to be longer than VS, but South American MS and VS tend to be longer; and public universities focused on individuals (students) and private universities focused on process (teaching).