Constructing competition for status: sports and higher education

The likelihood and forms of competition for status—or any other good—are dependent on how the good is allocated in society, and such allocation may, in turn, be strongly influenced by organizational efforts. We discuss the ways by which status allocation is organized in the fields of sports and higher education and analyse how and why certain forms of organization aid in constructing competition. Using the case of higher education, we show how actorhood, relationships, and status scarcity have been organized for a specific entity, the university. We argue that desire for status is more difficult to create by organizational efforts, and such desire may be difficult to justify within an organization. We end the chapter by discussing strategies for organizations competing for status and the risks that such strategies involve.