The Road to Academic Excellence: The Making of World-Class Research Universities ed. by Philip G. Altbach and Jamil Salmi (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Road to Academic Excellence: The Making of World-Class Research Universities ed. by Philip G. Altbach and Jamil Salmi Seuth Chaleunphonh Philip G. Altbach and Jamil Salmi (Eds.). The Road to Academic Excellence: The Making of World-Class Research Universities. Washington, DC: The World Bank. 2011. 363 pp. Paperback: $35.00. ISBN: 978-0-8213-8805-1. Also available in PDF format from the World Bank. As U.S. universities find themselves in an educational environment where global economic factors influence available resources, "the corporatization of the university" and competition for high-performing faculty members from a worldwide talent pool are critical in achieving global recognition. Philip Altbach and Jamil Salmi build on Salmi's The Challenge of Establishing World-Class Universities (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2009). The Road to Academic Excellence: The Making of World-Class Research Universities describes research universities from around the world and how they reflect an earlier established definition of a world-class research university. The authors evaluate 11 universities in 10 countries according to three factors: concentration of academic talent in faculty and students, significant budget levels, and strategic vision and leadership. They also examine diverse funding sources: government appropriations, grants, private contracts, endowments, sale of intellectual property, and tuition. The co-authors are connected to the World Bank or have worked with universities in India, China, Europe, Africa, and South America. Does every country need a world-class university as the authors suggest or is there a limit to the ability that a world-class university may have in impacting economic growth in a knowledge economy? Countries such as Nigeria and Malaysia realize how the delay in infrastructure advancement limits their competitiveness in the global market, due to higher costs. The specific issue of "brain drain," where professors leave their native countries seeking better working conditions, salaries, and facilities, is also addressed; certain countries have counteracted a history of "brain drain" by retrieving their citizens who left to work abroad. Altbach and Salmi select 11 institutions to validate their model for what should be considered a sustainable, world-class university. Seeking regional balance, the authors selected universities in 10 countries from five regions on four continents. The institutions varied from public to private institutions, mixed strategies (upgrading existing universities to establishing new institutions), variety of academic configurations (science/technology, comprehensive, social sciences), and three case studies. Seven of the 11 have already achieved top global rankings as cited by Shanghai, China [End Page 104] (Academic Ranking of World Universities), Taiwan (Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan), and the United Kingdom (Times Higher Education). The institutions analyzed were: Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Pohang University of Science and Technology (Korea), National University of Singapore, University of Malaya, Indian Institutes of Technology-Bombay, University of Ibadan (Nigeria), University of Chile, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Monterey Institute of Technology (Mexico), and Higher School of Economics (Russian Federation). Four of the universities—Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Higher School of Economics, the Russian Federation; Monterey Institute of Technology; and Pohang University of Science and Technology—may be considered situations hard to replicate. Just as certain companies are too big to fail, these four universities were deemed too important to fail. This factor may affect how useful their stories are as roadmaps for other institutions seeking to attain higher world ranking. It appears that many of the institutions selected, followed the U.S. model of higher education, thus revealing the assumption that the U.S. model is considered the gold standard around the world. Many designed their science/technology programs after MIT or Cal Tech. Universities that used their national language, rather than English, as the language of instruction, limited their global reach and competitiveness. This decision risked their ability to reach their growth ceiling as being the best university in their own country. Most of the institutions studied were also public institutions, requiring some level of financial support from the state and also articulating a mission agenda that addressed the public good. The institutions that concentrated on science and technology had greater success in recruiting international faculty and forming mutual goals with the...