The purpose of the study on which this article reports was to elaborate on career trajectories of academics in Kosovo. Particular attention is given to efforts to follow international benchmarks such as the Bologna Process at key stages of Kosovo's historical and political development in the last three decades. In this qualitative study, semi‐structured interviews were carried out with eleven academics with and without management experience as well as administrators. Findings revealed that Kosovo's higher education system is characterised by a weak organisational culture and an orientation towards externally driven change. Also, we found that academics perceived their role narrowly. The findings suggest that while higher education in Kosovo has moved towards adopting international benchmarks, the identity of the academics has not evolved in parallel to support the transition. A managerialist approach catalysed by the Bologna Process has helped a transition process in higher education in Kosovo. Finally, we propose that for a context in transition, local meaning‐making processes for policy transfer are needed. Moving forward, institutional development should be led by academic managers and should serve the professionalisation of academics in Kosovo.

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从生存走向发展：科索沃的经验，从过渡时期发展学术身份

本文报道的研究目的是详细阐述科索沃学者的职业发展轨迹。在过去的三十年中，在科索沃历史和政治发展的关键阶段，特别注意遵循国际标准，例如博洛尼亚进程。在这项定性研究中，对11名有或没有管理经验的学者以及管理人员进行了半结构化访谈。调查结果表明，科索沃的高等教育系统的特征是组织文化薄弱，并且倾向于外部驱动的变革。此外，我们发现学者们对他们的角色的看法狭窄。调查结果表明，尽管科索沃的高等教育已朝着采用国际基准迈进，学者的身份并没有同时发展以支持这一转变。博洛尼亚进程催生的管理主义方法帮助科索沃高等教育过渡进程。最后，我们建议，在过渡环境中，需要用于政策转移的本地含义制定流程。展望未来，机构发展应由学术管理人员领导，并应为科索沃的学者专业化服务。