Epistemologies of Communication: A Study of Strategic Communication Professionals in Nordic Higher Education Institutions

This article introduces the concept of epistemologies of communication – culturally and institutionally embedded ’ways of knowing’ that guide professional practice – to examine how communication professionals conceptualize and legitimize their work. We draw on the work by strategic communicators in Nordic higher education institutions (HEIs), a context simultaneously shaped by pressures for visibility and competitiveness, while also operating within the so called ‘Nordic’ model where ideals of egalitarianism, trust, and collaborative approaches are central. Drawing on 29 semi-structured interviews across Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, we perform an analysis of metadiscourses to explore epistemological foundations of communication. The findings reveal diverse metadiscourses that point to how strategic communication should be understood not only as an organizational function but also as a practice grounded in explicit and implicit epistemologies of communication – ways of knowing that shape communicative choices and strategic direction. The metadiscursive accounts also illuminate how professionals navigate tensions between Nordic values and market-oriented demands. The study suggests that there is not one Nordic way of strategic communication, but presents a characterization of the region in terms of its adaptability and contextual responsiveness, rather than uniformity.