["Journal of Engineering Education, Volume 115, Issue 3, July 2026. ", "\nAbstract\n\nBackground\nInterdisciplinary Engineering Education (IEE) is critical for fostering innovation; however, its implementation often faces resistance from entrenched disciplinary structures. China's School of Future Technology (SFT) initiative represents a significant policy experiment to institutionalize IEE, offering a unique context to examine how organizational legitimacy is constructed amid tension between radical innovation and traditional academic norms.\n\n\nPurpose\nThis study investigates the mechanisms through which SFTs establish IEE within universities by examining how actors configure, create, maintain, and disrupt work to shape distinct institutionalization pathways, moving beyond curriculum design to explore program‐level institutionalization.\n\n\nMethod\nWe conducted a longitudinal comparative case study of 12 SFTs from 2021 to 2024. Data drawn from 36 official annual progress reports were analyzed using a hybrid deductive‐inductive coding approach guided by the Human‐in‐the‐Loop (HITL) protocol. This enabled mapping of evolutionary trajectories and identification of distinct patterns of institutional work.\n\n\nResults\nThe analysis identified nine themes and revealed that institutionalization is not monolithic but manifests through four distinct pathways. Each pathway represents a unique strategic configuration of institutional work that evolves through a three‐phase trajectory to balance the competing demands of educational innovation and institutional legitimacy effectively.\n\n\nConclusions\nThis study contributes a typology of IEE institutionalization by demonstrating that reform requires alignment of strategic pathways with specific institutional contexts. Crucially, we highlight that disrupting work is not merely destructive but a persistent mechanism necessary to prevent the decoupling of policy from practice. These findings provide a theoretical framework and practical implications for engineering educators navigating complex educational reforms.\n\n"]