Pursuing Quality and Excellence in Higher Education: Is there an obsession with university rankings? Professor Ellen Hazelkorn Policy Advisor to the Higher Education Authority (Ireland) Director, Higher Education Policy Research Unit (HEPRU), Dublin Institute of Technology European Foundation Society and Education Ramón Areces Foundation Madrid, June 2015 www.dit.ie/researchandenterprise Which Are The Best Universities? Are the best universities those which best match the criteria established by the different rankings OR those that help the majority of students earn the credentials for sustainability living and employment? Are the best universities those that contribute to new scientific discoveries and highly trained PhDs OR those that “emphasize the obligations students have to serve their communities and the nation at large”? Are the best universities those that reinforce an elite knowledge society (where progress depends on the cutting-edge knowledge of the few) OR those that help build-up a mass knowledge society (where progress depends on the “wisdom of the many”)? www.dit.ie/researchandenterprise Themes 1. Pursuing Quality and Excellence 2. Do Rankings Measure Quality? 3. Advantages and Disadvantages of Rankings 4. What the Research Tells Us 5. Implications for Policy and Society www.dit.ie/researchandenterprise 1. Pursuing Quality and Excellence www.dit.ie/researchandenterprise Pursuing Quality • Quality and excellence are the main drivers impacting on and affecting higher education, nationally and globally; • Recognition of key role higher education plays within society and as an economic driver; • Quality assurance provides needed confidence for prospective students and employers; • Growing necessity to regulate the global marketplace – especially as more provider appear and talent is mobile; • Society has a right to know whether its institutions are capable of meeting its expectations: value-for-money and investor-confidence. www.dit.ie/researchandenterprise Quality is Concern for all Stakeholders • National geo-political positioning and pride; • Beacon to attract/retain investment, business and talent; • Institutional reputation and status; • Performance assessment of scientific-scholarly research; • Graduate capability and opportunities; • Link between qualification and career opportunities and life-style; • Value-for-money and return-on-(public) investment; • Growing importance of global networks. www.dit.ie/researchandenterprise What is Quality? • No internationally agreed definition of education quality; • No objective or value-free set of indicators; • Rather context is important: – Which university is best depends upon who is asking the question, what question is being asked and the purpose; – Different societies have different priorities, and higher education systems produce different results depending upon what is measured, and the purpose. www.dit.ie/researchandenterprise 2. Do Rankings Measure Quality? www.dit.ie/researchandenterprise Why Rankings • Rankings appear to be a simple and easy way to measure and compare performance and productivity; • Satisfy a "public demand for transparency and information that institutions and government have not been able to meet on their own" (Usher & Savino, 2006, p38); • Global rankings reflect the realization that in a global knowledge economy, national pre-eminence is no longer enough; www.dit.ie/researchandenterprise How Rankings Work • Compare institutions by using a range of indicators: – Indicators are chosen by the designers of each system; – Different indicators are weighted differently. • Final score aggregated to single digit in descending order; • Each indicator is considered independently from each other - with no consideration as to context, history, mission, etc. www.dit.ie/researchandenterprise Understanding Rankings • There is no such thing as an objective ranking • Because: – The evidence is never self-evident; – Measurements are rarely direct but consist of indicators; – Choice of indicators and weightings reflect value-judgements of the rankings organisations. • Each indicator is considered independently from each other - with no consideration as to context, history, mission, etc. – In reality, there is a relational aspect to the indicators or multi- collinearity www.dit.ie/researchandenterprise Evolution of Rankings • Global Rankings emerged in 2003 – – Part of US academic system for 100 years but today popularity is worldwide; – Significant force impacting and influencing policymakers and the academy; • Four phases: – Phase 1 (1900 -1950s) Sub-National/Elite Rankings – Phase 2 (1959 – 2000) National Rankings – Phase 3 (2003-) Global Rankings – Phase 4 (2008-) Supra-national Rankings • Today, 10 major global rankings and 150+ national/specialist rankings. www.dit.ie/researchandenterprise Global Rankings (red = government sponsored) • Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) (Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China), 2003 • Webometrics (Spanish National Research Council, Spain), 2004 • National Taiwan University Rankings (formerly Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for Research Universities, HEEACT), 2007 • Leiden Ranking (Centre for Science & Technology Studies, University of Leiden), 2008 • SCImago Journal and Country Rank (SJR) (Spain), 2009 • University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP) (Informatics Institute of Middle East Technical University, Turkey), 2009 • QS World University Rankings (Quacquarelli Symonds, UK), 2010 • THE World University Ranking (Times Higher Education, UK), 2010 • U-Multirank (European Commission, Brussels), 2014 • Best Global Universities rankings (USNWR, US), 2014 www.dit.ie/researchandenterprise Select National Rankings (red = government sponsored) DISCIPLINE/ INSTITUTIONAL SPECIALIST SUB-CATEGORIES • University Ranking System (Bulgaria) • Dataquest (India) • CollegeNET Social Mobility Index • CHE-HochschulRanking (Germany) • India Today (India) Ranking (US) • Expert University Ranking (Russia) • Outlook (India) • Georgetown Public Policy Review • Good University Guide (Australia) • Le Nouvel Observateur (France) Placement Efficiency Ranking (US) • Guardian University Guide (UK) • Sherif Magazine (Iran) • Metroversities (US) • University Rankings of Islamic Countries (Iran) • National Research Council Ranking of • New York Times Most Economically Diverse Top • Higher Education Commission Rankings Doctoral Programmes (US) (Pakistan) • Toplawschools.com (US) Colleges (US) • Online Study Australia Online • La Repubblica Grande Guida Università (Italy) • American Universities Admission University Ranking List (Australia) • Maclean’s On Campus (Canada) Programme: Undergraduate American • Princeton Review (US) • National Rankings of Best Universities Universities Rankings for International (Kazakhstan) Students (US) • Saviours of Our Cities (US) • Social Mobility Index (CollegeNet • Netbig Chinese University Ranking (China) • US News and World Report (USNWR) Top Med Schools (US) and Payscale, US) • Nigeria Universities Commission Ranking • WPROST MBA (Poland) • Washington Monthly College • OHEC (Thailand) Guide (US) • Perspektywy University Ranking (Poland) • Washington Monthly Ranking of • Ranking U-Sapiens (Colombia) Community Colleges (US) • Sunday Times Good University Guide (Ireland) • Times Higher Education University Guide (UK) • Top 200 University Rankings (Ukraine) • URANK-rank (Sweden) • US News and World Report (USNWR) College Rankings (US) www.dit.ie/researchandenterprise 3. Advantages and Disadvantages of Rankings www.dit.ie/researchandenterprise Do we measure what we value? or Do we value what we measure? Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. (Einstein) “Wise decisions are needed about what and how to measure the proficiencies demanded by the 21st century”. (Kuh, 2013) www.dit.ie/researchandenterprise Who Uses Rankings Students, public opinion and government are biggest users of rankings & more likely to be negatively influenced • Domestic undergraduate students • Internationally mobile students and faculty • Postgraduate students • Government/Policymakers • Academic partners and academic organisations • Employers • Sponsors, philanthropists and private investors • Industrial partners • Higher education institutions • Public opinion www.dit.ie/researchandenterprise What People Want To Know • Teaching and learning: environment and quality; • Fields of specialisation/department: level of intensity, expertise, quality and competence; • Faculty quality: qualifications, expertise and track-record, research, • Efficiency level: how much output vis-a-vis funding; • Graduate expectations: career, salary and lifestyle; • Employability of graduates: trends and competences; • Research capacity of HEI & research team; • Research infrastructure: level of use and efficiency; • Performance benchmarked regionally, nationally & internationally; • Attraction capacity and internationalisation; • Etc. www.dit.ie/researchandenterprise What Rankings Measure Rankings Measure Rankings Do Not Measure • Bio- and medical sciences Research • Teaching and Learning, incl. "added • Publications in Nature and Science value", impact of research on teaching • Student and Faculty Characteristics (e.g. productivity, entry criteria, • Arts, Humanities and Social Science faculty/student ratio) Research • Internationalization • Technology/Knowledge Transfer • Reputation – amongst peers, • Impact and Benefit of Research employers, students • Regional or Civic Engagement • Student