Ranking Of Institutions Research Articles

Readability assessment of patient educational materials for pediatric spinal conditions from top academic orthopedic institutions.

The Internet has become a popular source of health information for patients and their families. Healthcare experts recommend that the readability of online education materials be at or below a sixth grade reading level. This translates to a standardized Flesch Reading Ease Score between 81 and 90, which is equivalent to conversational English. However, previous studies have demonstrated that the readability of online education materials of various orthopedic topics is too advanced for the average patient. To date, the readability of online education materials for pediatric spinal conditions has not been analyzed. The objective of this study was to assess the readability of online educational materials of top pediatric orthopedic hospital websites for pediatric spinal conditions. Online patient education materials from the top 25 pediatric orthopedic institutions, as ranked by the U.S. News and World Report hospitals for pediatric orthopedics, were assessed utilizing multiple readability assessment metrics including Flesch-Kincaid, Flesch Reading Ease, Gunning Fog Index, and others. Correlations between academic institutional ranking, geographic location, and the use of concomitant multimedia modalities with Flesch-Kincaid scores were evaluated using a Spearman regression. Only 32% (8 of 25) of top pediatric orthopedic hospitals provided online health information at or below a sixth grade reading level. The mean Flesch-Kincaid score was 9.3 ± 2.5, Flesch Reading Ease 48.3 ± 16.2, Gunning Fog Score 10.7 ± 3.0, Coleman-Liau Index 12.1 ± 2.8, Simple Measure of the Gobbledygook Index 11.7 ± 2.1, Automated Readability Index 9.0 ± 2.7, FORCAST 11.3 ± 1.2, and Dale-Chall Readability Index 6.7 ± 1.4. There was no significant correlation between institutional ranking, geographic location, or use of video material with Flesch-Kincaid scores (p = 0.1042, p = 0.7776, p = 0.3275, respectively). Online educational material for pediatric spinal conditions from top pediatric orthopedic institutional websites is associated with excessively complex language which may limit comprehension for the majority of the US population. Economic and Decision Analysis/level III.

<p>Factors Affecting University Graduates’ Employability in Egypt Using Egyptian University Students as a Case Study</p>

Employability refers to the process of gaining initial employment, maintaining employment, and successfully obtaining new employment if required. In simple terms, employability is about being capable of obtaining and keeping fulfilling work. Employability is having a set of skills, including knowledge, understanding, and personal attributes that make a person more likely to choose and secure occupations in which they can be satisfied and successful. Employability depends on knowledge (what you know), skills (what you do with what you know), and attitudes (how you approach things). In higher education, the employment of university graduates is influenced by many factors including institutional ranking, image, branding, and program structure. Therefore, university reputation in specific programs is important and affects the employability of graduates directly.
 In a recent paper by the corresponding author, we argued that university branding is critical for developing a favorable image and impacts one’s identity formation and promotion substantially, thus differentiating and placing one in a highly competitive context. In this paper, we will investigate the factors that influence employability among university graduates and determine which ones can affect the overall graduate employability of university graduates in Egypt. These factors include academic branding, academic performance, technical skills, communication skills, personality, leadership and motivational skills, and teamwork and problem-solving skills, taken as independent variables, while overall graduate employability was considered the dependent variable. In addition, we consider the impact of the university’s reputation on graduate employability.
 Survey methods were used on 500 graduates and undergraduates (fourth level) from different Egyptian universities who have not yet performed employability behavior, chosen at random, by using exploratory factor analysis to validate the items under those independent variables and structural equation modeling with AMOS to test the hypothesized relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable. The questionnaire had 20 questions, including demographic inquiries and questions about the abovementioned topics. The findings of this study can help scholars further investigate the employability aspects and guide fresh graduates in acquiring the required employability skills while assisting companies in recruiting suitable people with the required skills and performance.

WAAI: A Weighted Author Affiliation Index for Journal Evaluation

Journal evaluation methodologies are often used to produce journal-ranking lists for various purposes. In this study, the authors present a modularity-based journal evaluation methodology based on the proportional contributions that journals receive from authors affiliated with globally ranked institutions. This empirically developed methodology draws on a stratification of institutions in the global rankings to allocate weights to article batches in a given journal. The authors apply the proposed methodology to evaluating 12,150 scholarly journals in different subject fields. The results show an elitist set of journals with a heavy tendency to publish mostly from authors affiliated with the top-ranked institutions. These journals have the highest weighted author affiliation index (WAAI) scores and are highly distinguished titles in different subject fields. However, the authors find a large population of journals that receive contributions mostly from institutions at lower ranks. They argue that the WAAI methodology provides a generic and objective evaluation technique for ranking journals across all disciplines.

College NIRF Rank Predictor using ML

Abstract: The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) is an annual ranking system initiated by the Indian government to rank higher education institutions based on several parameters such as teaching, research, and outreach activities. In this project, we propose to develop a machine learning model that can predict the NIRF rank of an institution. Here we have used 2020 NIRF ranking dataset from Kaggle. Then based on the score of previous years, we predict the rank by giving the performance indicators to the model. The paper focuses on the use of Random Forest Regressor based Machine learning technique to predict NIRF rank. Factors considered are Teaching, Learning and Resources (TLR) score, Research and Professional Practice (RPC) score, Graduation Outcome (GO) score, Outreach and Inclusivity (OI) score and Perception Score for particular college. The model is evaluated using standard strategic indicator: Root Mean Square Error. The low value of this indicator show that the model is efficient in predicting NIRF rank. We got score of 93% and RMSE of 15.47. We have completed ML model save and load operations using Joblib. We have created a flask server for model deployment and deployed on Render as web service. We conducted comprehensive evaluations on frequently used machine learning models and conclude that our proposed solution outperforms due to the comprehensive feature engineering that we built. The system achieves overall high accuracy for College NIRF rank prediction.

Educational institutions selection using Analytic Hierarchy Process based on National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) criteria

Educational institutions selection using Analytic Hierarchy Process based on National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) criteria

Agricultural education in times of war: Strategic visions, leadership practices and post-war reconstruction

In the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine, agricultural universities will provide the state with specialists capable of implementing the seamless integration of “green” benchmarks. The full-scale war has not only threatened the sustainable operation of all spheres of higher education institutions but also forced them to look for new ways of adaptation and development. This study aims to assess the readiness of higher education institutions in the agrarian sector to meet the personnel needs of the state in the medium-term of post-war reconstruction. The paper used a group of parameters with specific indicators: education (change in the number of graduates at the Bachelor’s and Master’s educational levels, the ratio of publicly-funded and fee-based education seekers, changes in the average entrance score), science (change in the number of articles published in Scopus and the corresponding h-index, the number of Erasmus grants received, the amount of budget funding for science), recognition (academic ranking of higher education institutions by the Webometrics and Top-200 Ratings), and financing (estimated amounts of funding from the general and special fund, and their ratio). The study offers a unique approach to calculating the Integrated Sustainability Index of higher education institutions. This index clearly illustrates how efficiently 15 agricultural higher education institutions have adapted to wartime transformations. For example, Sumy National Agrarian University and Lviv National Natural Resource Management University have this index exceeding 30%. The study draws attention to the problematic areas of university activity during the war and suggests extending the valuable experience of Sumy National Agrarian University. AcknowledgmentThe authors are grateful to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who are liberating the territory of Ukraine at the cost of their own lives, as well as to Ukrainian farmers, who, despite the war, are doing everything possible to prevent a food crisis in the world.This study is co-funded by the European Union through the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) within the project “Europeanisation of Doctoral Studies in Line with the Innovative Doctoral Training Principles in Europe: Towards a Common Future” 101083493 - EDOCS - ERASMUS-JMO-2022-HEI-TCH-RSCH https://edocs.snau.edu.ua/en/

Metrics of student dissatisfaction and disagreement: longitudinal explorations of a national survey instrument.

This study explores dissatisfaction and neutrality metrics from 12years of a national-level undergraduate student survey. The notion of dissatisfaction is much less prevalent in the narratives surrounding student survey outcomes, and the underpinning metrics are seldom considered. This is despite an increasingly vociferous debate about 'value for money' of higher education and the positioning of students as consumers in a marketised sector. We used machine learning methods to explore over 2.7 million national survey outcomes from 154 institutions to describe year-on-year stability in the survey items that best predicted dissatisfaction and neutrality, together with their similarity to known metric predictors of satisfaction. The widely publicised annual increases in student 'satisfaction' are shown to be the result of complex reductions in the proportions of disagreement and neutrality across different survey dimensions. Due to the widespread use of survey metrics in university league tables, we create an anonymised, illustrative table to demonstrate how UK institutional rankings would have differed if dissatisfaction metrics had been the preferred focus for reporting. We conclude by debating the tensions of balancing the provision of valuable information about dissatisfaction, with perpetuating negative impacts that derive from this important subset of the survey population.

Сontradictions in the development of the scientific and pedagogical community as a problem of foreign and domestic research

The subject of sociological analysis in the article is one of the important resources of modern higher education – the scientific and pedagogical community (SPS), considered by the authors as a key social community of universities (along with students and managers). The focus of attention is on two main incarnations of the SPS, that determine the place of the university in domestic and international rankings of higher education institutions. This is a professional-pedagogical and scientificeducational activity of the members of the community. It is emphasised that it is the SPS that today constitutes the “core” of the university’s intellectual asset. That leads to the growing attention to the SPS as an object of theoretical and empirical study in foreign and domestic science. Hence, the purpose of the article was defined as the identification of trends in the SPS research, shown through the prism of its contradictions and problems common to Russian and foreign universities. Special attention is drawn to two paradoxical situations typical of the domestic SPS. Firstly, as its number decreases, the structure of professional activity becomes more complicated, the number of tasks and the degree of responsibility increase, the amount of academic workload and unnecessary bureaucratic burden systematically increase. Secondly, the growing dependence of the university development strategy on scientific and pedagogical staff is combined in a contradictory way with a decrease in real managerial attention to them. Two theories served as a general theoretical framework for the authors – theory of social community and theory of resource dependence. The article presents the results of a systematic analysis of the literature, that allowed to reveal the contradictions in the reproduction of the scientific and pedagogical staff of universities, the impact of the development strategies of higher education and universities on the functioning and development of the SPS, as well as the contradictions in the development of the resource capacity of the SPS.

Evaluation of the allocation efficiency of medical and health resources in China's rural three-tier healthcare system

ObjectivesEvaluating the efficiency of health resource allocations is critical to improving China's rural three-level health service network. Study designThis was a prospective panel data study. MethodsBased on panel data of the medical and health resources of 31 provinces within rural China, collected from 2003 to 2020, this study uses a three-stage Data Envelopment Analysis–Malmquist index to analyze the evolution of efficiency and productivity. ResultsThe efficiency and productivity of county and county-level medical and health institutions rank highest, followed by township hospitals, whereas village clinics are shown to be in great need of improvement. A decline in technical advancement appears as a crucial factor exacerbating loss of factor productivity. ConclusionsPolicy makers should further optimize the efficiency of medical resource allocation and promote the coordinated development of rural health in China.

The H-index: An educational article

The H-index has been increasingly used in the ranking of academic institutions including universities because it has been increasingly considered as an important tool for academic leadership assessment. The collective H-index of the academics in an institution represents the institution H-index. The ranking of academic institutions including universities is actually aiming at determining which institutions are leading in their fields and giving them a reputation credit according to their rank. The main aim of this paper is to provide the essential knowledge needed by academics about the H-index and the relevant topics.

Academic reputation quality and research: an analysis of Latin-American universities in the world higher education institution rankings from the perspective of organizational learning theory

ABSTRACT The purpose of the research is to theorise about the determinants of academic reputation and the moderating effects of aspiration performance in Latin-American universities present in three of the most important rankings in the world: The Times Higher Education, QS World University Rankings, Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). To achieve the research purpose, a time series panel is performed. Our general model trying to evaluate the effect of aspirational performance 15 on the relationship between Faculty quality (Research and Teaching) and Academic Reputation in Latin American Countries was specified. The database considered in the research includes the universities classified in the Times Higher Education ranking (THE), QS World University Rankings (QS), and Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) from 20 2011 to 2022. Concerning the results, it was possible to verify that the ranking of performance in research and the ranking of performance in quality does not have a significant relationship with academic reputation. While ranking performance in quality and research according to the category of countries, a positive and robust impact was observed. 25 Similarly, it was found that the regions’ moderating effect on the relationship between quality and research and its impact on the academic reputation of higher education institutions. As a general conclusion of the article, it is possible to show that regional dynamics of the location of university institutions define the strategy from which the institution’s 30 performance is improved. Therefore, the importance of the influence of environmental actors on performance is identified.

Funding and University Performance: An Econometric Analysis of the Indian Public Universities

Underpinning the aim of India’s National Education Policy, 2020 to devise a performance-based funding mechanism, it is pertinent to examine the impact of existing financial support on the university’s performance. Using a fixed panel data analysis, the present study investigates the influence of funding on the performance of Indian public universities over the period 2016-2020. The funding is considered in terms of the plan and non-plan grants received by universities from the central government, while performance is measured using performance parameters given by National Institutional Ranking Framework, 2021. Controlling the age, size and ownership type of university, findings reveal a significantly positive impact of funding on teaching performance, research performance and graduation outcomes of government-owned universities. Surprisingly, university’s outreach, inclusivity and peer perception have been observed to be indifferent towards central grants. Overall, the study provides valuable insights to university practitioners and policymakers for future development of the performance-funding mechanism.

EWS Quota: A Policy Against Evidence

Are economically weaker sections (EWS) students from the general category, who are not disadvantaged socially and educationally, underrepresented in higher education institutions in India? We examine this question by analysing a novel database of educational institutions in India, which were ranked in 2019 and 2022. The share of EWS students remains well above 10 per cent in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF)-ranked higher education institutions both before and after the implementation of EWS quota. Analysis of the panel data of the same institutions ranked in both 2019 and 2022 as well as the Periodic Labour Force Survey data 2019 confirms the above finding. The evidence, thus, is at odds with the justification of the EWS reservation policy.

Perceived Influence of Digital Competence on Knowledge Sharing Behaviour of College Librarians in the South-East and South-South Geo-Political Zones of Nigeria

Knowledge and the competence to share it in the digital age have become potent tools for the attainment of competitive advantage and sustainable development in organizations and institutions of learning. This awareness has necessitated the need to embark on a study with the main objective of determining how digital competence variables influence the knowledge sharing behaviour of librarians in college libraries in the South–East and South–South of Nigeria. The research was supported by the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Survey research method was used to investigate a sample of 264 librarians. A validated and structured questionnaire with a correlation coefficient of 0.92 was used to collect data for the research through the census method. A response rate of 82% (217) was received and analysed. Findings reveal that librarians in college libraries possess the ability to use and manipulate a broad range of digital devices like smart phones, tablets, lap/desk tops; have a working knowledge of the World Wide Web (www); use social media platforms to maintain workplace collaboration; and use popular library application software packages. The study concludes that librarians in the institutions studied have shown significant skills in the use of ICT in their knowledge sharing behaviour and therefore should be sustained. The research recommends amongst others regular ICT training, workshops and conferences to enhance the knowledge sharing behaviour of the librarians and the creation of digital platforms and infrastructure for knowledge creation and sharing for professional and institutional ranking and visibility. Keywords: Digital Competence, Knowledge Sharing Behaviour, College Librarians, Nigeria DOI: 10.7176/IKM/13-3-03 Publication date: March 31 st 2023

Рейтинг университета как элемент аттрактивности для потенциальных абитуриентов

The article presents the results of the students’ preferences study when choosing a place to receive higher education. The study was conducted at the Faculty of Philology at Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, its methodology is based on the principles of a survey implemented online on the RAEX Rating Review portal on June 14–23, 2022; the results are compared. The answers record factors that mark the quality of education and social aspects, noted by enrollees when choosing a university, indicate the actual place of global and national rankings among the channels of information about the activities of universities, as well as other sources of information about universities. The conclusions drawn from the results of the survey consider the importance of the quality of educational services and describe aspects that influenced the choice of students such as well-established relations between the university and employers, a high level of internationalization, the possibility of conducting scientific research and internships. The article discusses global and national rankings of institutions of higher education and their role in informing, attitude to the ranking as an assessment tool by enrollees and their parents as the most significant group of stakeholders. It is concluded that a ranking has a teaching function, it is a tool for searching information about the quality of educational services for stakeholders and a tool for creating image for a university; we pay attention to the fact that at present the ranking is not a sufficiently demanded tool. A new important task for universities and ranking agencies is training in how to work with rankings, developing communication channels between stakeholders and universities and monitoring the results of this activity.

6. The Influence of Integrated vs Independent Pathway and Hospital Type on Plastic Surgery Post-Residency Plans Unchanged by Global Pandemic

Background: Statements are often made about what percentage of plastic surgery (PRS) residents go into fellowship vs. private practice vs. academia after graduation. However, few objective studies have been completed. This project is designed to illuminate career choices of PRS residents immediately after graduation from 2018-2022 and secondarily, determine if the pandemic had any measurable impact. Methods: Publicly available data was obtained from institution websites or program queries. Demographic data was collected including sex/gender, training pathway, primary residency, length of training, and post-residency fellowship vs private practice job vs academic job vs military appointment. Comparison of percentages between pre-Covid and post-Covid (2018-19 vs 2020-22), training pathways (independent vs integrated), institution type (private vs public) and program rank (per Doximity) were analyzed using Fisher’s exact test. P values were 2-sided and comparisons with P < 0.01 were considered significant. Statistical analysis was performed using SAS software. Results: Data was collected for 691 graduates across 64 training programs (28% independent, 71% integrated). Most graduates pursued fellowship-training (61%) followed by 28% direct to private practice, 5% direct to academic practice and 1% assumed a military post. Independent residents were more likely to pursue private practice (40%vs.26%, p=0.001), while integrated residents were more likely to pursue additional fellowship training (49%vs70%, p<0.0001). Public institution graduates are more likely to go into private practice (37%vs.23%, p=0.0002), while private institution residents are more likely to pursue fellowship (55%vs.72%, p<0.0001). However, pandemic (p=0.31) and institutional rank (p=0.11) showed no association. Conclusion: In this report, we present career choice trends amongst PRS trainees. We found independent residents more likely to pursue private practice, perhaps due to prolonged training period (minimum 8 years vs 6 years), while integrated residents were more likely to pursue fellowship training. Public/State institution graduates were more likely to pursue private practice, potentially influenced by more exposure to community faculty than trainees in private academic settings. This study demonstrates that training pathway and institution type have a significant impact on post-graduation plans, whereas global pandemic and institutional rank do not. This information can be used by programs and students as they plan for the future.

What Contributes More to the Ranking of HEIs?: Comparative Analysis of Ranking Parameters of India Rankings 2021 in Overall Category using Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient

This study conducts correlation amongst five broad categories of parameters of top 100 ranked institutions in the Overall category of India Rankings 2021 to identify their relative significance. This includes i) inter-correlation; ii) intra-correlation; and iii) year-to-year correlation between ranks and scores of institutions as well as long-term correlation at intervals of five years, i.e. 2017 and 2021. The correlation analysis reveals that while RP (Pearson r = 0.9098), PR (Pearson r = 0.8941), TLR (Pearson r = 0.7118) and GO (Pearson r = 0.5330) are four major categories of parameters that have good to strong correlation with the total overall score as well as with each other, parameters under O & I correlate strongly with each other but neither total score of O &I nor score of its parameters correlate with total Overall score. Year-to-year correlation between ranking of institutions as well as correlation at intervals of five years is near perfect, which reaffirms consistency and reliability of ranking methodology. Based on intra- and inter-correlation analysis conducted on raw data (rather than on its weighted score), the study identifies 12 parameters that have the highest number of correlations with total TLR, RP, GO, PR as well as total overall score with value of Pearson’s r ranging between 0.2500 to 0.9900. These 12 parameters can potentially constitute a compact and coherent set of ranking indicators on which HEIs can focus and ranking agencies may consider regrouping and redistributing weightage to these 12 indicators.

Salary transparency and gender pay inequality: Evidence from Canadian universities

AbstractResearch AbstractWe examine whether salary transparency influences gender pays inequality in the context of Canadian universities by exploiting a policy change enacted in one Canadian province that required salary disclosure through a publicly searchable database, thus lowering the cost of monitoring the gender pay gap. We find that, on average, salary disclosure improves gender pay equality but institutions respond in different ways. Despite little media attention around gender equality at the time of the policy, institutions most likely to anticipate higher scrutiny, such as top ranked institutions, respond more aggressively to improve gender pay equality—both in terms of the magnitude and type of response. Combined, our findings suggest that the extent of change from salary transparency depends on the reduction in monitoring costs and organizational characteristics.Managerial AbstractSalary transparency has been implemented in various ways around the world as a strategy by firms and policy makers to reduce the gender pay gap. However, whether and how it can achieve this in practice is unclear. We examine a salary transparency policy that mandated disclosure to the public through an online database in one Canadian province by comparing the change in gender pay inequality in that province relative to the change in the gender pay gap in provinces without disclosure. We find that salary transparency improves average gender pay equality primarily within the most visible organizations that likely anticipate high levels of public scrutiny. Our findings imply that facilitating low‐cost public monitoring of gender inequalities can motivate organizations to enact change.

Research Online Visibility of LIS Faculties at Central Universities in North India

The study examines the Google Scholar profile of LIS faculties employed in central universities of North India to determine their research online visibility. Data was obtained by doing manual searches on Google scholar on 4 July 2022 with the appropriate name of the faculties and their affiliation. The study found that 74 % of the faculty have a Google Scholar profile. Findings show that Prof. Margam Madhusudhan (DU) is leading among the faculties with a citation count of 1715, the highest number of publications, 162, and the highest i10 index of 31. Further, Prof. Bhaskar Mukherjee (BHU) and Prof. Margam Madhusudhan (DU) have the highest-ranked h-index, with 18 each leading the list. The authors advocate that a GS profile can be used to assess the research productivity of the faculty and that the authors’ work is more accessible if they create a Google Scholar profile for personal and institutional ranking purposes. The study also recommends displaying thrust areas for faculty members to boost the visibility of their areas of interest, which can be used for collaboration by other faculties or researchers with similar interests in India and overseas.

Evaluation of researchers: H-Index or G-Index which is better?

H-index measures both the quantity and quality of scientific evidence of a scientist. It is a measure of individual academic success and promotions. It also provides one of the benchmarks to assess institutional research achievements and help in institutional ranking. At present, most of the National Quality Assurance bodies in our country and globally consider the H-index while evaluating the impact of research at the individual researcher level, department level, institutional level, or university level. The calculation of the H-index does not take into consideration the higher numbers of citations in any publications. However, while comparing two scientists for academic positions or two institutes for institutional ranking, the high citations should be taken into consideration. This article tries to put forth a few points comparing H-index with the G-index and explain the use of both indices while assessing the evaluation process of researchers or institutions.