Theorising University Rankings

Abstract

This chapter introduces key theories underpinning the changing environment in which university rankings have emerged. These theories focus on the global trends toward cross border activities in higher education, the effects of neoliberalism on higher education, the emergence of heterarchical governance in higher education, the relationship between stakeholders in higher education, and the global landscape of higher education. It also delineates the definitions and characteristics of university rankings. This is followed by a literature review on definitions and characteristics of university rankings. In particular, this part introduces the attributes of major global ranking systems. In the light of these theoretical elements, the chapter illustrates a ranking phenomenon in higher education, and outlines a four-dimensional analytical framework in which university rankings are viewed as technologies or concepts from an ecological or a geographical perspective. Based on these four dimensions, the book tries to examine the ranking phenomenon in Taiwan’s higher education, beginning with presumptions that consider rankings as a technology, then turning to the theoretical lens that conceptualise rankings with a focus on power relations in higher education.