From growth to constraint: interpreting saturation in Scandinavian higher education

This article investigates how pressures toward constraint in higher education, conceptualized analytically as saturation, can be understood through the perspectives of communication professionals within Scandinavian higher education institutions (HEIs). Drawing on 29 qualitative interviews with communication professionals at twelve HEIs across Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, the study examines how these actors frame changing expectations around relevance, efficiency, and questions of institutional legitimacy. Rather than treating saturation as a purely structural condition, the article approaches it as an analytical concept emerging from how actors interpret and respond to converging pressures, highlighting the communicative practices through which universities navigate new constraints. The article contributes to higher education research by advancing understanding of saturation beyond labour market mismatch and capacity limits, showing how it is constructed through strategic communication. It also provides empirical insight into how universities respond to emerging pressures and offers a framework for understanding how professional staff interpret changing conditions in higher education systems under pressure.