Abstract
This article reviews ‘The Research Handbook on University Rankings- Theory, Methodology, Influence and Impact’ edited by Ellen Hazelkorn and Georgiana Mihut. This informative book looks at the worldwide impact of university rankings. With 37 chapters grouped into six themes, the book discusses the challenges, imperatives and innovation facing rankings into the future. The book makes a comprehensive contribution to higher education research and practice.
A big boom in university rankings is a manifest phenomenon in higher education in the 21st century. University global rankings have existed for almost two decades since the publication of the Shanghai ranking in 2003, and currently more than 20 global rankings, including the QS, the Shanghai ranking and THE ranking, have strongly impacted and dominated the development of global higher education system. With a shift of focus from transparency, accountability and management information systems in the initial phase to marketization and mediatization in recent years, as a result of phenomena, global rankings now play ‘a central role in the consciousness of higher education as policy targets and as talking points’ (Scott, 2013, p. 121).
Given the fact that university rankings have become an important benchmark for global competitiveness, the standards and indicators designated by ranking systems not only impacted national policy making and institutional behaviours but also reshaped higher education systems (Hazelkorn, 2019). Yet, global rankings have also brought much skepticism about if they can accurately evaluate the quality of universities and their academic performances. Much literature highlights that there have been several reasons for global ranking to stay, but it is evident that these global ranking systems have common methodological limitations and created a paradox of pursuit of academic excellence and mission mismatch in universities. Thus, it is imperative to look at how university rankings have made transmutation on higher education landscape worldwide. Moreover, it is worth discussing the challenges, imperatives and innovation facing rankings into the future. ‘The Research Handbook on University Rankings: Theory, methodology, influence and impact’ edited by Ellen Hazelkorn and Georgiana Mihut provides a good opportunity for varying higher education stakeholders to engage academic and rational discussions over tensions and dilemma created by university rankings over past two decades from multi-perspectives.
The Research Handbook on University Rankings contains informative studies introducing theoretical frameworks, methodological tensions, influences and impacts that university global rankings have brought into higher education systems and individual institutions in the context of globalization and internationalization. Looking back over 20 years, the monograph consisting 37 chapters in six themes extensively analyses related ranking issues in the past as well as explores the new modes and imaginaries for future development. As Philip Altback commented in the handbook that ‘the publication of the Research Handbook on University Rankings provides an opportunity to reflect on the role of rankings in the first quarter of the 21st century’ (p. xxiii, 2021). The book describes theorization of global rankings and their impacts over the systems and individual higher education; discusses ranking taxonomy and methodological limitations; presents how global rankings have affected institutional behaviours and interacted with the national agenda in quality higher education; introduces emerging rankings systems with a new focus of gender equity, third mission and innovations; investigates the correlation between ranking metrics, faculty resources and learning gains and ranking used by students; and comments the role of global rankings in accelerating the (geo)politics of higher education and promoting excellence initiatives launch and world-class university building in a comparative approach. Notwithstanding, the Handbook contains all related quality issues derived from university rankings in the recent decade, which have drawn greater attentions of policy makers, university administrators, global data publishers, teachers, students, graduates, communities, as well as industries.
The first part of the book tracks the evolution of rankings, theorizes the implications in a macro as well as a micro perspective, and reflects on these implications in globalized higher education under neoliberalism. The second part illustrates diversity of methodologies in global- and national-based rankings and characterizes multi dimensions of rankers. Besides, some chapters address new instruments to respond the need of different stakeholders, such as U-Multirank under the auspices of the European Union, and identify the features which should be taken into consideration for the future development of measures and evaluation instruments. The third part then discusses a paradigm shift of institutional governance and leadership due to global rankings and illustrates the impacts over behaviours of academic staff and other stakeholders by using case studies. Subsequently, it is being argued that quality assurance is inextricably intertwined with ranking systems in several contexts, such as Europe, East Asia and Latin America. Some chapters in part four attempt to respond the severe criticism towards an overlook of teaching and learning quality measures in most ranking systems and provides empirical studies to demonstrate a gap between information provided in the global rankings and student choices -what and where to study. To some extent, the findings were beyond readers’ imaginations, pointing out an overestimate of university rankings’ influence by universities and governments. In reality, the information in rankings is not equally important for all students.
The part five positions global rankings within this changing landscape of higher education from a geopolitical dimension. By the intertwining of globalization, internationalization and massification, the focus of university-based research productivity in major global rankings have led to inequality and marketization and intensified credentialism in higher education systems worldwide. Nevertheless, the publishing and big data companies involved in data collection and analysis take greatest advantages of their roles as data providers and owners of analytics platforms such as Fingerprint Engine. They now become more powerful to ‘guide, shape and influence researchers’ behavior and university governance’ (Chen and Chan, 2021, p. 426). Massification and internationalization in higher education produced a diversified and complex academic environment, which drives global rankings a big business. Some universities sought to gain advantages from consultancy services provided by global rankers. The final part concludes the overall impacts of global rankings in higher education policies and addresses national responses and initiatives launched. Most chapters reflect the significance of policy discourses and interactions among policy makers, research funders, universities and global rankers. In a sense, it produces a good counterbalance to the self-indulgent commercialism and marketization triggered by rankings over years and form ‘an overarching framework for international comparability, assessment and accountability’ (Hazelkorn and Mihut, 2021, p. 9) in a well-balanced manner.
Indeed, the more lessons we learn from the monograph, the more emerging issue we will be concerned, which will also continue to challenge global higher education and bring other unintended impacts on universities. As Hazelkorn and Gibson (2017) argued, ‘there is no such thing as an objective ranking. Reaction is sometimes purposively discreet, but overall ignorance is difficult to sustain’. As a driver of economic growth and global competitiveness, the truth is, policy makers and university leaders cannot avoid to be positioned in global and regional geopolitical contexts, even though there is non-existence of global rankings. Yet, given the fact that rankings only embrace around 1% of the world’s universities and 2% of student population globally and that they focus on research and even mostly scientific research, it is time to reconceptualize the appropriate measures to assess the right things and actual impacts. Although understanding and measuring impact remain complex at this moment, following the advance of technology and a widespread use of digitalization, the index related to teaching and learning at educational programmes, community-focused research and the contribution to public discourse and local communities will need to be considered.
With a growing tension among nations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is found that ‘attitudes towards university rankings among the universities and governments appear to be at a crossroads’ (Yonezawa, 2021, p. 232). Holmes (2021) also observed that ‘we might see a declining interest in citations and international indicators, and a search for metrics that reflect the social and economic role of tertiary education’ (p. 135). An echo to reframe traditional ranking schemes is getting stronger and stronger, in methodology and presentation, in order to ‘recognize and reward institutions for their performance in providing access for students from underserved groups to high-quality higher education’ (Perna et al., 2021, p. 302).
To sum up, there are a number of advantages this book contributes to higher education research. It has comprehensive content and adopted multi-dimensional and professional perspectives. The only downside is that there is not much dialogue between chapters in each section and a limited number of empirical studies at the institutional levels to support theorization of university rankings in a context of global convergence or divergence. Considering the extensive social and private benefits that higher education generates in different contexts, university rankings are supposed to reflect inclusive access, affordability and student success in order to achieve social justice and economic efficiency in society. Thus, it is expected to have more substantial arguments on how different types of higher education providers were influenced by rankings in extensive aspects and how new ranking instruments can better equity, inclusiveness and sustainability in order to fulfill the SDGs goals in the post COVID-19 era. Global rankings need to assist universities to recognize the value of academic freedom, democracy and human rights, and respect diversity in an era of uncertainty. The ranking stories in the monograph tell us, ‘the schools were not ranked, but rather delineated according to their missions. This would avoid the “zero-sum problem”’ (Albach, 2021, p. xxv).