Redefining stakeholder mapping for higher education institutions

As they pursue long-term viability and social impact, higher education institutions (HEIs) must navigate increasingly dense networks of interconnected stakeholders. To build effective relationships, these actors must be systematically identified, analyzed, and engaged, not treated ad hoc. Only then can genuine value co-creation emerge between academia, government, industry, and society. However, stakeholder mapping in higher education often relies on arbitrary scholarly judgments. This is problematic: for HEIs to perform sustainably, stakeholder analysis must be built into strategic management and explicitly tied to long-term institutional objectives and stakeholders’ actual positions in the ecosystem. We address this concern with a structured approach that identifies and ranks HEI stakeholders by their systemic roles and alignment with strategic goals. Our results show that many strategic stakeholders are external: government, society, and industry are critical, with the media as an active intermediary and amplifier. Internally, the most salient stakeholder is HEI management, underscoring its power—and responsibility—to steer policies that shape relationships with all other actors. By clarifying who matters most, why, and how, our analysis of stakeholder salience advances strategic management in higher education, enhancing the transparency and sustainability of value creation and capture across the HEI ecosystem.