Academic Rank Research Articles

The use of Different Criteria Weighting and Multi-Criteria Decision Making Methods for University Ranking: Two-Layer Copeland

Multi-criteria methods have attracted attention in academia and industry applications for effective decision making. Although there are many multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) methods, none of these methods are perfect and should be chosen according to the decision problem. Choosing the necessary decision support method to find the right solution that is suitable for the decision maker becomes an important problem. To solve this problem, methods such as Copeland and Borda combining the results of different MCDM methods are available and widely used. In this study, a new hybrid model is proposed based on twice combining the results of different MCDM methods with different criterion weighting methods. The proposed model has been tested on student satisfaction data of 20 foundation universities in Turkey. It has been shown that the final model named Ensemble Copeland can be used as a benchmark in MCDM problems

A machine learning approach feature to forecast the future performance of the universities in Canada

University ranking is a technique of measuring the performance of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) by evaluating them on various criteria like student satisfaction, expenditure, research and teaching quality, citation count, grants, and enrolment. Ranking has been determined as a vital factor that helps students decide which institution to attend. Hence, universities seek to increase their overall rank and use these measures of success in their marketing communications and prominently place their ranked status on their institution's websites. Despite decades of research on ranking methods, a limited number of studies have leveraged predictive analytics and machine learning to rank universities. In this article, we collected 49 Canadian universities’ data for 2017–2021 and divided them based on Maclean's categories into Primarily Undergraduate, Comprehensive, and Medical/Doctoral Universities. After identifying the input and output components, we leveraged various feature engineering and machine learning techniques to predict the universities’ ranks. We used Pearson Correlation, Feature Importance, and Chi-Square as the feature engineering methods, and the results show that “student to faculty ratio,” “total number of citations”, and “total number of Grants” are the most important factors in ranking Canadian universities. Also, the Random Forest machine learning model for the “primarily undergraduate category,” the Voting classifier model for the “comprehensive category” and the Gradient Boosting model for the “medical/doctoral category” performed the best. The selected machine learning models were evaluated based on accuracy, precision, F1 score, and recall.

Bridging technology and pedagogy from a global lens: Teachers’ perspectives on integrating ChatGPT in English language teaching

The rise of Artificial Intelligence in educational contexts has sparked both excitement and trepidation, highlighting the urgent need to investigate its implications, especially in English Language Teaching. In light of this context, this study aimed to find out how English language teachers perceive the pedagogical benefits and challenges posed by ChatGPT when incorporated into ELT and identify potential avenues for such digital innovations. Adopting a qualitative research design, data were purposively collected by distributing an open-ended questionnaire to 46 English language teachers from multiple countries. This sample was solicited via the academic and research platform ResearchGate, assuring a broad representation of academic ranks and teaching experience. Thematic analysis was used to unpack the rich textual responses. Findings revealed that, while teachers recognize ChatGPT's potential to facilitate personalized and dynamic learning interactions, they also harboured perceptible concerns regarding linguistic fidelity, potential overreliance on the tool, and the possibility of creativity suppression. In addition, the perceived limitations of the instrument in developing crucial language skills such as listening and speaking were highlighted. The data further emphasized the need for targeted professional development and agile curriculum adaptation to maximize the potential of ChatGPT and other AI tools. This research contributes to the burgeoning discourse on AI's interaction with ELT by incorporating a global perspective, making it invaluable for teachers, curriculum designers, and tech innovators. Limitations, recommendations and implications were provided.

Neural longitudinal mapping of multidimensional performance profiles of Latin American universities

Objective. To introduce an artificial intelligence method and to use it to analyze the evolution of the multidimensional performance profiles of the most prominent Latin American universities, according to the Times Higher Education Latin America University Rankings.
 Design/Methodology/Approach. To multidimensionally characterize universities' performance profiles, we use the rankings' sub-scores indicators, which quantify five dimensions of academic endeavor assessed by this ranking. To automatically compare and visually analyze performance profile's evolution our method uses an artificial neural network.
 Results/Discussion. The neurocomputational procedure allowed us to discover all the characteristic performance profiles of the 50 best ranked universities (20 institutional profiles in 2019), and to visualize, in a knowledge map, the universities' groups sharing similar profiles. Furthermore, the profile's evolution of this group of universities was analyzed, and visually displayed in a sequence of knowledge maps, covering the four years period 2016-2019. In general, these universities show a remarkable improvement in Teaching, Research and Citation scores during 2016-2019. The profiles diversity of the best ranked universities, and the predominance and homogenization process of Brazilian universities profiles are noteworthy.
 Conclusions. Performance profile characterization using multiple indicators is a matter of interest in diverse domains. However, visualization or comparison of multidimensional performance profiles is not an easy task for the human mind. Even more challenging is the visual analysis of multidimensional performance profiles evolution. The neuro-longitudinal technique introduced is a useful tool to analyze and visualize the evolution of multidimensional performance profiles.
 Originality/Value. The approach and techniques introduced in the paper have an important degree of generality and can be used to analyze other type of rankings or multidimensional data.

A Comparative Analysis of the Baghdad and Babylon Universities Exploring Factors Affecting Their Competitiveness in World University Rankings

في السنوات الأخيرة، اكتسبت تصنيفات الجامعات العالمية شعبية كوسيلة لتقييم جودة مؤسسات التعليم العالي لأنها توفر رؤى قيمة حول أفضل المؤسسات في جميع أنحاء العالم؛ لذلك، يستخدم أصحاب العمل والأكاديميون والطلاب هذه التصنيفات لتحديد من أي مكان يمكن توظيف موظفين جدد، ومتابعة التعليم العالي، وإجراء البحوث. ويصدق هذا على الجامعات العراقية أيضا، حيث تسعى جاهدة لتقييم مكانتها وقدرتها التنافسية على نطاق عالمي. في هذه الدراسة، يتم تحليل ومقارنة نتائج جامعتي بغداد وبابل في تصنيف التايمز العالمي. بالإضافة إلى ذلك، يتم أيضا فحص العوامل التي أثرت على تصنيفهما على مدى خمس سنوات (2017-2022). تهدف هذه الدراسة إلى تسليط الضوء على مزايا وعيوب كل مؤسسة تعليمية من خلال تحليل مجموعة متنوعة من المتغيرات، بما في ذلك التدريس، والمخرجات الدولية، ونتائج الصناعة، وجودة البحث، ومقاييس الأداء الأكاديمي، و الاستشهادات. كما تسعى لتحديد الميزات التي تميز كل واحدة عن غيرها. من أجل إجراء تحليل مقارن، تستخدم هذه الدراسة بيانات تصنيف مؤسسة التايمز البريطانية، والتي تعتبر واحدة من أكثر التصنيفات التي توفر مؤشرات موثوقة ودقيقة للأداء الجامعي و أيضا قواعد بيانات Elsevier's Scopus . تشير نتائج هذه الدراسة إلى مجالات التطوير وتعطي المشرعين والإداريين والطلبة المحتملين فهما شاملا للعوامل الرئيسية التي تؤثر على تصنيفات هاتين الجامعتين.

A Study on the Competitiveness of Asian Universities--Using Different University Rankings as Examples

A Study on the Competitiveness of Asian Universities--Using Different University Rankings as Examples

The formalisation of academic subjectivity under constant performance assessment

ABSTRACT This paper considers the part played by measuring instruments in academic subjectivity. Higher education in many regions has undergone procedures of marketisation. Because competitive mechanisms entail calculable and comparable data, performance measurement contributes indispensably to procedures of marketisation. This study aims to explore how the neoliberal discourse has been enacted and has eventually overwhelmed Taiwanese higher education as regards academic management and institutional practices. This scenario begins by the issue of promotion evaluations, which is the most important concern for most interviewees, then delineates the ubiquity of performance measurement, demonstrated by Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and principles of accountability, followed by other internal evaluations, university rankings and honours systems. Taking the case of universities in Taiwan, this study illustrates how academic subjectivity, as a locus of power relations, was established in the neoliberal era.

The advantages of Google Scholar Ranking

The ranking of universities in the world is a crucial link when it comes to the circular process called choosing the right university for each future student. During this selection process, students consider many factors. It is these rankings that help them make in-depth analysis of what different universities and professors have to offer. The purpose of this paper is to show the benefits of academic ranking of universities, faculties, professors, and researchers, as well as to get a clear picture of the degree of citation of the professors, specifically on the Google Scholar platform, while explaining the level of the faculties and universities. The criteria according to which the ranking is made is the total number of citations of professors and researchers from the universities and faculties.

A New Model for Ranking Schools of Public Health: The Public Health Academic Ranking.

Objectives: As there is no ranking designed for schools of Public Health, the aim of this project was to create one. Methods: To design the Public Health Academic Ranking (PHAR), we used the InCites Benchmarking and Analytics™ software and the Web Of Science™ Core Collection database. We collected bibliometric data on 26 schools of Public Health from each continent, between August and September 2022. We included 11 research indicators/scores, covering four criteria (productivity, quality, accessibility for readers, international collaboration), for the period 2017-2021. For the Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), a network gathering faculties across different universities, a specific methodology was used, with member-specific research queries. Results: The five top schools of the PHAR were: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Public Health Foundation of India, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, SSPH+, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Conclusion: The PHAR allows worldwide bibliometric ordering of schools of Public Health. As this is a pilot project, the results must be taken with caution. This article aims to critically discuss its methodology and future improvements.

The Disproportionate Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Time Allocation of Recipients of NIH Career Development Awards Who Are Women or Caregivers of Dependents.

To understand time allocation of a national medical faculty cohort 1.5-2 years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, compared to before. From August 2021-April 2022, the authors conducted a retrospective survey of 1,430 clinician-researchers who received National Institutes of Health career-development awards between 2006-2009 asking about domestic and professional time allocation pre-pandemic and at the time of surveys (TOS). Of 915 respondents (64%), the 830 who remained in academic positions constituted the analytic sample. Multivariable regression models identified demographic factors associated with each time outcome and change in time between pre-pandemic and TOS, and having experienced ≥8-hour increase of total self-reported weekly professional work hours and domestic labor hours. Median self-reported weekly professional work hours were 55 hours/week pre- pandemic and 60 at TOS. On multivariable analysis, significant predictors of self-reported weekly professional work hours at TOS were having a non-child other dependent (+2.6 hours, P = .03), academic rank (associate -3.1 hours, assistant -9.0 hours; P < .001), and specialty (P < .001). Average self-reported TOS weekly domestic-labor hours were 23.1 among men and 30.2 among women (P < .001). Predictors of total self-reported TOS weekly domestic hours were being a woman (+5.6 hours; P < .001) and having children requiring supervision (+10.2 hours; P < .001). Overall, 9.3% of men (42/450) and 21.6% of women (88/407) experienced a ≥ 8 hour increase in domestic labor (P < .001). On multivariable analysis, women had higher odds of substantial domestic-labor increase (OR = 2.33, 95% CI: 1.47, 3.68), as did those with children requiring supervision (OR = 1.93, 95% CI: 1.25, 2.98) or other dependents (OR = 1.83, 95% CI: 1.13, 2.98). This study illuminates demands on women and faculty with dependents during the COVID-19 pandemic and suggests increased flexibility and resources are of heightened importance.

MANAGEMENT MODEL FOR HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS BASED ON RANKING OF UNIVERSITIES

The demands and pressures of the market are felt in higher education, necessitating continuous improvement in every aspect. A desirable approach would be implementing a management model of excellence in education, particularly emphasizing evaluation, and service enhancements. Such assessments can influence the positioning of universities in the market and enable them to identify their strengths and weaknesses. This study proposes a conceptual model of excellence management for HEIs (Higher Education Institutions), based on analysing university rankings. The model will be developed by identifying convergent factors of the EFQM and BCPE Management Models, verifying convergence factors among the leading five international rankings, and presenting the procedures for using Rankings as Performance Indicators. This research has a bibliographic character. As a result of this research, it was possible to propose a management model of excellence in which university rankings are used as performance indicators. The proposed model is flexible and can be utilized by different HEIs.&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Article visualizations:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="/-counters-/lit/0757/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Female researchers are under-represented in the Colombian science infrastructure.

Worldwide women have increased their participation in STEM, but we are still far from reaching gender parity. Although progress can be seen at the bachelor's and master's level, career advancement of women in research still faces substantial challenges leading to a 'leaky pipeline' phenomenon (i.e., the continuous decrease of women's participation at advanced career stages). Latin America exhibits encouraging rates of women participation in research, but the panorama varies across countries and stages in the academic ladder. This study focuses on women's participation in research in natural sciences in Colombia and investigates career progression, leadership roles, and funding rates by analyzing data on scholarships, grants, rankings, and academic positions. Overall, we found persistent gender imbalances throughout the research ecosystem that were significant using classical statistical analyses. First, although women constitute >50% graduates from bachelors in natural sciences, <40% of researchers in this field are female. Second, women win <30% of research grants, and in turn, their scientific productivity is 2X lower than that of men. Third, because of the less research funding and output women have, their promotion to senior positions in academic and research rankings is slower. In consequence, only ~25% of senior researchers and full professors are women. Fourth, the proportion of women leading research groups and mentoring young scientist in Colombia is <30%. Our study deepens our understanding of gender gaps in STEM research in Colombia, and provides information to design initiatives that effectively target gender disparities by focusing on key areas of intervention, and then gradually building up, rather than tackling structural inequities all at once.

Methods and technologies for evaluating the quality of higher education in the context of international standards: A comparison of the Ukrainian and Polish experience of creating ratings

The need to study the methods and technologies used to assess the level of educational services is primarily due to constant transformations in educational processes, improvement of the system of criteria used to rank higher education institutions. The purpose of this study was to analyse the tools used to assess the performance of higher education institutions in the context of international standardization of educational processes. The main methods used in the study were statistical analysis, comparative and contrastive and analytical and synthetic methods. The comparative and contrastive analysis revealed that research activities were among the main indicators that influenced the creation of the rankings: Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings (60%), TOP-200 Ukraine (42%), Perspektywy (42%), and prestige and reputation: QS World University Rankings (40%), Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings (30%), TOP-200 Ukraine (12%). The methods used to create the rankings included statistical, pedagogical analysis, analytical and synthetic methods, and surveys. To create the Ukrainian ranking, 6 international (Webometrics, Scopus, Times Higher Education World University Rankings, Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings, UniRank, QS World University Rankings) and 4 national (participation in research project competitions, number of patents received, awards for young scientists, the ratio between the number of applications and the competition score) indicators were used. The Polish ranking was based on 29 indicators divided into groups: prestige, scientific effectiveness, scientific strength, scientific and educational potential, internationalization, graduates on the labour market, innovation, study conditions, and economic cooperation. In Poland, there was a balance between international and national criteria, while in Ukraine, about 70% of international criteria and 30% of national criteria were used. This work can be used in the future to improve national and international systems for assessing the quality of higher education, and to develop a unified mechanism for creating ratings

Roles and competencies of medical faculty members: A competency framework

Purpose Medical education requires competent faculty members with the ability to create change in medical education. The focus on teacher competency are emerged as the results of medical education movements toward learner competency. The purpose of this study was to identify medical faculties competencies in their main roles and to provide a competency framework. Method The integrative review approach was utilized for identifying competencies and expert opinions was conducted to assigned competencies to roles and academic ranks. The search strategies were conducted in online databases including PubMed, Scopus, WOS and Eric to detect studies published from May 2003 to May 2023. Results The identified competencies were classified to four themes including (1) essential personal competencies, (2) technical/functional competencies, (3) enabling competencies, and (4) meta-competencies. Conclusion According to the results, a competency framework was proposed which is a valuable tool for various important decisions related to faculty, such as promotions and tenurship.

Academic accomplishments of Black neurosurgeons in the United States.

Neurosurgery has remained relatively homogeneous in terms of racial and gender diversity, trailing behind national demographics. Less than 5% of practicing neurosurgeons in the United States identify as Black/African American (AA). Research and academic productivity are highly emphasized within the field and are crucial for career advancement at academic institutions. They also serve as important avenues for mentorship and recruitment of diverse trainees and medical students. This study aimed to summarize the academic accomplishments of AA neurosurgeons by assessing publication quantity, h-index, and federal grant funding. One hundred thirteen neurosurgery residency training programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education in 2022 were included in this study. The American Society of Black Neurosurgeons registry was reviewed to analyze the academic metrics of self-identified Black or AA academic neurosurgeons. Data on the academic rank, leadership position, publication quantity, h-index, and race of neurosurgical faculty in the US were obtained from publicly available information and program websites. Fifty-five AA and 1393 non-AA neurosurgeons were identified. Sixty percent of AA neurosurgeons were fewer than 10 years out from residency training, compared to 37.4% of non-AA neurosurgeons (p = 0.001). AA neurosurgeons had a median 32 (IQR 9, 85) publications compared to 52 (IQR 22, 122) for non-AA neurosurgeons (p = 0.019). AA neurosurgeons had a median h-index of 12 (IQR 5, 24) compared to 16 (IQR 9, 31) for non-AA colleagues (p = 0.02). Following stratification by academic rank, these trends did not persist. No statistically significant differences in the median amounts of awarded National Institutes of Health funding (p = 0.194) or level of professorship attained (p = 0.07) were observed between the two cohorts. Racial disparities between AA and non-AA neurosurgeons exist in publication quantity and h-index overall but not when these groups are stratified by academic rank. Given that AA neurosurgeons comprise more junior faculty, it is expected that their academic accomplishments will increase as more enter academic practice and current neurosurgeons advance into more senior positions.

Traveling the road toward academic promotion for faculty with a DNP degree

There is a widely recognized need for nursing faculty in the United States. To prepare a practice-ready workforce, schools of nursing are hiring faculty with Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) preparation to ensure clinical expertise is embedded into curriculum by practice experts. However, nurses transitioning from clinical nursing to faculty positions require tailored support and guidance in navigating the academic environment. Preparation for academic promotion is essential to integration into an academic setting. Support in navigating the new environment is essential for building confidence, to lay a foundation for a successful transition, and ultimately retaining these qualified educators. This article provides strategies to support nursing faculty planning to embark on an academic career track and provides guidance on how to prepare these DNP-prepared faculty for career progression and future promotion along academic ranks. These strategies include school and institutional orientation, faculty development plans, mentorship, leadership development, and performance review processes.

"The Role of Jazan University in Developing the Performance of Faculty Members according to the Standards of Academic Accreditation"

The current research aims to identify study sample estimations about the reality of Jazan University role in developing the faculty members' performance according to the academic accreditation standards, reveal statistically significant differences at the significance level (0,05) among study sample responses about the role of Jazan University in developing the faculty members' performance according to academic accreditation standards which are attributed to the research variables, as, (gender, academic rank and years of experience at the university ), identify obstacles facing Jazan university in developing the faculty members' performance according to academic accreditation standards and make suggestions and recommendations which can activate this role. The research community consists of all on job faculty members of Jazan University, of both genders, with job titles (professor, associate professor and assistant professor). The research community is (1153) members and distributed among different university theoretical and practical faculties. To achieve the study objective, the descriptive approach is used with its analytical style. A questionnaire is used as a tool for collecting data and applied on a sample of (302) members of both genders, which represent (26,19 %) from the study community. For data analysis, several statistical methods are used such as ((Pearson Correlation, Cronbach's Alpha, Independent Sample – Test and One –way ANOVA). The study reaches a number of results as following: (1) The estimates of the members of the research sample on the role of Jazan University in developing the performance of faculty members in light of the standards of academic accreditation came with a degree of approval (medium), where the field of teaching ranked first with a degree followed by the field of community service with a degree and finally the field of scientific research comes with a degree (2) There are statistically significant differences at the significance level (0.05) among averages of study sample responses about the total degree of Jazan University role in developing faculty members' performance according to academic accreditation standards, which represented by: (teaching, scientific research and community service). (3) There are statistically significant differences at the significance level (0.05) among averages of the study sample responses according to the years of experience variable for faculty members with more than 6 years serving at the university.

Smart and Sustainable City Experience on Smart Campus: A Case Study from Hassan Ist University

The desire to meet the demands of regional competition requires cities to adopt new patterns of urban management. In this sense, the trend at the global level is to use smart city standards by investing in the digital transformation of various public services in cities. In recent years, many efforts have been made in many Moroccan cities to improve their attractiveness by being part of the process of upgrading and enhancing their territories through the implementation of major infrastructure projects and the digitalization of urban administrations.&#x0D; This study was conducted to examine the feasibility of a smart campus as a discounted smart city, and it relies on the dissemination of a quantitative survey, via a questionnaire (live and online), supplemented by a qualitative survey based on focus group methodology. We have gained a broader perspective that allowed us to understand the reality of things on campus. The study also showed that there are many efforts that the university must take in conjunction with developing its plan to advance Hassan I University to the ranks of smart universities.&#x0D; This article is part of a study proposing a strategy for developing the campus of Hassan I University of Settat to be a smart one.

Addressing the Resource-Based View: Determinants That Drive Chinese Universities to Offer MOOCs

This study involved 51 Chinese universities from the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Ranking 2021. With based the resource-based view (RBV) as a framework, it aimed to identify the determinants of human resource capital that were related to universities’ production of MOOCs. Three determinants were detected—size, lifelong learning, and proximity to the political centre. Both size and proximity to the political centre proved to be significant. The findings provide timely implications for university managers and suggest that the variety of management spaces be expanded to increase the portfolio of high-quality Chinese universities that facilitate the production of MOOCs. In addition, universities should increase their proximity awareness to remedy the disadvantages of uneven resource allocation due to geographical proximity.

Measuring quality and effectiveness of HEI internationalisation - results from Poland, Czechia, Ukraine and the United Kingdom

he aim of this paper is to verify the applicability of the toolkit developed to assess and compare the internationalisation of universities in terms of its effectiveness and quality. For this purpose, a survey in the form of a questionnaire (one of the proposed tools) was conducted for a group of 57 universities from Poland, Czechia, Ukraine, and the UK. The toolkit made it possible to rank universities in terms of the quality and effectiveness of internationalisation, and allowed for an individual assessment of the level of internationalisation. Results show there are differences in the level of effectiveness and quality of internationalisation between the four countries surveyed. In the UK and Ukraine, there is significant difference in internationalisation effectiveness ratings for priority and non-priority traits, with better results for priority traits in the UK and better results for non-priority traits in Ukraine. In Poland, there is a significant difference in the level of quality of internationalisation ratings between priority and non-priority traits. Efficiency of internationalisation (effectiveness measure divided by the expenditure on internationalisation) was significantly higher in the UK than in other countries, which may be due to the more mature culture of internationalisation in universities in this country.