INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CHANGES IN EDUCATION
Review
Aug 22, 2025 1 0

Towards a "Newer Normal" ? A Bibliometric Analysis Examining Organizational Culture in the Post-COVID-19 Higher Education Landscape in the United Kingdom

Ruby Mathew 1,
Philip Coombes 2,
Steven Cock 1,
Alan Johnston 1 * ,
Susan Walsh 1,
Lynsey Walker-Smith 1
1 York Business School, York St John University, UK2 Sheffield Business School, Sheffield Hallam University, UK* Corresponding Author
International Journal of Changes in Education, 2(3), 2025, 207-218, https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewIJCE42023668
Publication date: Aug 22, 2025
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ABSTRACT

Concern continues to grow over the changing nature of work that initially formed a “new normal” within higher education institutions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. This situation is now being further impacted by subsequent economic and political
challenges in the sector, which in turn shifts the workplace towards an even “newer normal”. The purpose of this article is to (1) methodically and logically review the extant literature and research linking the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic to the organizational culture of higher education institutions in the United Kingdom (UK), and (2) based on a bibliometric analysis, to offer a road map for further empirical research in the future. Researchers have found that changing workplace norms, such as remote and hybrid working and other forms of flexibility in approaches to learning and the availability of delivery modes, have become increasingly common, which has changed the nature of working practices and underpinning aspects of organizational culture. Therefore, it now appears opportune to update existing knowledge on organizational culture theory within the UK higher education context to support policy development and enhance workplace practices in the post-COVID-19 period. From a theoretical perspective, this article contributes to organizational culture literature by assimilating a dataset of nascent studies generated through keyword search on Clarivate Analytics Web of Science that have examined the impact of COVID-19 on organizational culture in UK higher education institutions. This emergent dataset was analyzed using VOS Viewer, with the results of subsequent quantitative bibliometric analysis identifying the main existing research fronts as well as potential research directions for the empirical development of organizational culture. Based on this bibliometric analysis, the main suggested future research agendas that need to be addressed linked to organizational culture in the UK higher education sector in the post-COVID period are as follows: (a) to further examine changing cultural norms and expectations; (b) hybrid approaches to working; (c) academic identity; and (d) organizational culture and the changing psychological contract. Such research is important as the UK higher education sector now progresses towards an even “newer normal”.

KEYWORDS

COVID-19 higher education institution university organizational culture pandemic systematic literature review

CITATION (APA)

Mathew, R., Coombes, P., Cock, S., Johnston, A., Walsh, S., & Walker-Smith, L. (2025). Towards a "Newer Normal" ? A Bibliometric Analysis Examining Organizational Culture in the Post-COVID-19 Higher Education Landscape in the United Kingdom. International Journal of Changes in Education, 2(3), 207-218. https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewIJCE42023668
Harvard
Mathew, R., Coombes, P., Cock, S., Johnston, A., Walsh, S., and Walker-Smith, L. (2025). Towards a "Newer Normal" ? A Bibliometric Analysis Examining Organizational Culture in the Post-COVID-19 Higher Education Landscape in the United Kingdom. International Journal of Changes in Education, 2(3), pp. 207-218. https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewIJCE42023668
Vancouver
Mathew R, Coombes P, Cock S, Johnston A, Walsh S, Walker-Smith L. Towards a "Newer Normal" ? A Bibliometric Analysis Examining Organizational Culture in the Post-COVID-19 Higher Education Landscape in the United Kingdom. International Journal of Changes in Education. 2025;2(3):207-18. https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewIJCE42023668
AMA
Mathew R, Coombes P, Cock S, Johnston A, Walsh S, Walker-Smith L. Towards a "Newer Normal" ? A Bibliometric Analysis Examining Organizational Culture in the Post-COVID-19 Higher Education Landscape in the United Kingdom. International Journal of Changes in Education. 2025;2(3), 207-218. https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewIJCE42023668
Chicago
Mathew, Ruby, Philip Coombes, Steven Cock, Alan Johnston, Susan Walsh, and Lynsey Walker-Smith. "Towards a "Newer Normal" ? A Bibliometric Analysis Examining Organizational Culture in the Post-COVID-19 Higher Education Landscape in the United Kingdom". International Journal of Changes in Education 2025 2 no. 3 (2025): 207-218. https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewIJCE42023668
MLA
Mathew, Ruby et al. "Towards a "Newer Normal" ? A Bibliometric Analysis Examining Organizational Culture in the Post-COVID-19 Higher Education Landscape in the United Kingdom". International Journal of Changes in Education, vol. 2, no. 3, 2025, pp. 207-218. https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewIJCE42023668

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