Rankings: changes ante portas?

Rankings: changes ante portas?

Global Ranking Monitor, Headline
At the end of April, the International Ranking Expert Group (IREG), the only independent international ranking organisation, held its annual conference in Tashkent. Such IREG events are of particular importance because they bring together global ranking compilers, ranking experts and representatives of many universities and government agencies. This year's conference was also special in that it took place in a region relatively distant from the centre of higher education - and demonstrated the openness and connectivity of Central Asian universities through excellent organisation and very warm hospitality. In terms of content, a significant development was that almost all the presentations marked a change in the world of global rankings. As they put it, nothing will ever be the same in the wake of geopolitical and academic changes. The directions of…
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Even plausible measures may lead to bad effects if researchers change their behaviour in order to be evaluated more favorable according to quantitative measures.

Even plausible measures may lead to bad effects if researchers change their behaviour in order to be evaluated more favorable according to quantitative measures.

Global Ranking Monitor, Headline
Interview with Professor Ted Porter (USLA) 12 May 2021 Could you shortly introduce the main topics your field, the history of science has discussed most recently? According to you, which are the most relevant questions? People write about the history of science from many perspectives. Since the 1940sm it has become a somewhat distinct academic field, allied to the historical discipline and to social sciences. Much of this writing is about the reciprocal shaping of scientific knowledge and scientific practices along with social, political, and cultural changes. It is often allied to history of technology and medicine and with the field of Science and Technology Studies. My own research is allied to a growing interest in understanding the outcomes and significance of quantification, and this is particularly relevant to questions…
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Does increased competition in higher education lead to more quality, or does it undermine creativity?

Does increased competition in higher education lead to more quality, or does it undermine creativity?

Global Ranking Monitor, Headline
Interview with Ulrich Teichler 08 May 2021 Foto: Heiko Meyer Our conference ("University Rankings – Reflections from Social Sciences and Humanities") aims at examining the role of global rankings from the reflections of various disciplines (humanities, social science, and natural science). What main questions or topics has your field (higher education research) discuss over the last 5-10 years? According to you, which are the most relevant questions? Most higher education researchers, who have addressed rankings in their research activities, have pointed out the normative biases of the popular rankings (e.g. belief that the cumulation of talents in a few institutions might increase the overall academic productivity in a country, pre-occupation with elite higher education, disregard of diversity, disregard of the tension between academic quality and societal relevance, etc.). Some scholars…
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Covid-19 and rankings

Covid-19 and rankings

Global Ranking Monitor, Headline
What effect does the pandemic have on rankings? In this time of crisis, is it a priority for institutions to achieve rankings? Has their strategy changed in the last year? These issues were examined in an article in The Wall Street Journal in February 2021. In the U.S. popular M.B.A rankings, several business schools did not participate this year. The article cites as examples that Harvard Business School, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, Columbia Business School, and the Stanford Graduate School of Business were also missing from the Economist and Financial Times rankings. One reason for this was that the institutions did not take on the tasks of collecting the data needed for ranking, which was justified by the fact that it would have placed a heavy burden not…
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The real competition: Hungarian universities in the international field

The real competition: Hungarian universities in the international field

Global Ranking Monitor, Headline, Webinar
Summary of the second Ranking Webinar (22 February 2021) The second part of our Ranking-webinar series discussed the ranking of Hungarian higher education institutions in global and subject rankings. This series aims to strengthen common thinking on rankings - an important milestone of this will be the International Ranking Conference in 19-21. May 2021. Dr. György Fábri's presentation discussed two important issues. The first topic discussed where the real competition for Hungarian universities is, whether the issue of comparing the dominant North American universities and Hungarian institutions is realistic. In the presenter's view, it is important to have a proper comparability between domestic and foreign universities, for which it is worth choosing a reference circle that includes universities operating in similar social, cultural and scientific environments. For this reason, the…
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THE Emerging Economies Rankings 2021 published

THE Emerging Economies Rankings 2021 published

Global Ranking Monitor, Headline
Times Higher Education has revealed its annual ranking of universities in countries classified by the London Stock Exchange's FTSE Group as "advanced emerging", "secondary emerging" or "frontier". The list includes 606 institutions from 48 countries, up from 533 universities and 47 countries in 2020. China continues to dominate the Emerging Economies rankings delegating 91 institutions and occupying the top five positions of the table. Russia, Taiwan and South Africa were also able to secure their ranks in the TOP 10, and the strength of these higher education systems is reflected in the number of universities in the TOP 50 (Russia: 6, Taiwan: 6, South Africa: 3). Although India has the second-highest number of institutions in the rankings, only two Indian universities have made the TOP 100. On the other hand,…
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QS World University Rankings By Subject 2021 is out now

QS World University Rankings By Subject 2021 is out now

Global Ranking Monitor, Headline
QS has published its newest subject rankings in 5 broader subject areas and 51 subjects. The 2021 edition ranked 1440 institutions in 85 countries, based on data regarding nearly 14000 individual university programmes and almost 14 million publications. USA continues to shine out with the most ranked programmes and with the two most successful institutions, Harvard and MIT, each topping the tables in 12 subjects. UK, China, Australia, and Germany complete the Top 5 by number of institutions ranked. Russia has a record number of Top 20 appearances and Singapore can also be highlighted with two first places in 2021. On the contrary, Japanese institutions continue to decline in performance. Hungarian institutions have been ranked in all five subject areas and 24 subjects, with a total of 11 institutions appearing…
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