Abstract
Global university rankings are a powerful force shaping higher education policy worldwide. Several different ranking systems exist, but they all suffer from the same mathemati- cal shortcomingtheir ranking index is constructed from a list of arbitrary indicators combined using subjective weightings. Yet, different ranking systems consistently point to a cohort of mostly US and UK privately-funded universities as being the 'best'. Moreover, the status of these nations as leaders in global higher education is reinforced each year with the exclusion of world-class uni- versities from other countries from the top 200. Rankings correlate neither with Nobel Prize win- ners, nor with the contribution of national research output to the most highly cited publications. They misrepresent the social sciences and are strongly biased towards English language sources. Furthermore, teaching performance, pedagogy and student-centred issues, such as tuition fees and contact time, are absent from the vast majority of ranking systems. We performed a critical and comparative analysis of 6 of the most popular global university ranking systems to help eluci- date these issues and to identify some pertinent trends. As a case study, we analysed the ranking trajectory of Greek universities as an extreme example of some of the contradictions inherent in ranking systems. We also probed various socio-economic and psychological mechanisms at work in an attempt to better understand what lies behind the fixation on rankings, despite their lack of validity. We close with a protocol to help end-users of rankings find their way back onto more meaningful paths towards assessment of the quality of higher education.
Highlights
In 1797, Goethe wrote a poem called ‘Der Zauberlehrling’ − the sorcerer’s apprentice
The section is devoted to a case study of the 10 yr ranking trajectory of universities in one country, Greece, chosen to investigate the impact of serious economic restructuring on higher education. This is followed by a discussion of some of the possible mechanisms at work, wherein we identify the problems associated with the current approach for constructing multi-parametric ranking indices
On 9 July 2012, the Troika pressed Greek authorities to progress towards full recognition of degrees granted by private colleges operating as franchises of foreign universities in Greece, part of a plan to liberalize the country’s higher education sector. This is confirmed by the findings reported by the 2013 annual report ‘Greek higher education institutions in the world rankings’ (Interuniversity Higher Education Policy Network 2013), which used data from the Webometrics Ranking over the years 2011−2013
Summary
In 1797, Goethe wrote a poem called ‘Der Zauberlehrling’ − the sorcerer’s apprentice. Criticisms of global rankings have led to regional and national ranking systems being developed to help increase the visibility of local world-class universities that are being excluded. The section is devoted to a case study of the 10 yr ranking trajectory of universities in one country, Greece, chosen to investigate the impact of serious economic restructuring on higher education This is followed by a discussion of some of the possible mechanisms at work, wherein we identify the problems associated with the current approach for constructing multi-parametric ranking indices. (6) the Dutch 2012−2013 Centre for Science and Technology Studies Ranking (‘CSTS Ranking’ or ‘Leiden Ranking’; www.leidenranking.com) All of these systems aim to rank universities in a multi-dimensional way based on a set of indicators. 10.00 SCIVERSE SCOPUS 20.00 Webpages in the 16.66 Proportion of 10% of Citations per faculty main web domain highly cited articles
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