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International university rankings, such as the QS World University Rankings, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), have gained significant weight in public perception of the educational and research quality of institutions.
However, these rankings present multiple methodological and conceptual problems that undermine their validity and usefulness as objective evaluation tools. This essay strongly criticizes these rankings, relying on the relevant academic literature.
International rankings often privilege certain criteria that do not necessarily reflect the educational quality or social impact of universities.
For example, Marginson (2007) points out that many rankings assign a disproportionate weight to research in English and the number of publications in high-impact journals, ignoring other forms of knowledge production and innovative educational practices.
This creates a bias towards Anglo-Saxon universities and devalues meaningful work done in other languages and cultural contexts.
Likewise, rankings tend to focus on quantitative indicators that are easily measurable, but do not always reflect quality. Dill and Soo (2005) argue that indicators such as the number of Nobel Prize winners or Fields Medals among academic staff and alumni, or the number of articles published, may not correlate with the quality of teaching or the relevance of the knowledge generated.
These indicators may also be influenced by external factors, such as the size and resources of the institution, rather than the intrinsic quality of its academic programs.
Likewise, another significant problem is the lack of transparency and the questionable validity of the methodologies used to compile these rankings. Liu and Cheng (2005) criticize that many ranking methodologies are opaque and do not allow independent replication, which compromises confidence in their results.
Without forgetting Marginson (2007), who highlights that the arbitrary choice of indicators and the weighting assigned to each one can significantly influence the results, producing rankings that are neither consistent nor reliable.
Rankings also foster unhealthy competition between institutions, which can lead to strategic behaviours that do not benefit higher education as a whole. Hazelkorn (2011) points out how universities can prioritise investment in areas that will improve their ranking position, rather than areas that respond to local or national needs.
This phenomenon, known as the “rankings effect,” can divert resources from teaching and community service toward more visible and quantifiable activities, such as research in certain privileged disciplines.
In the same sense, rankings can perpetuate existing inequalities in the global higher education system. Following Altbach (2006), universities in developing countries face significant challenges to compete in these rankings due to limitations in resources and capabilities. This dynamic not only perpetuates a Eurocentric and Anglocentric view of academic excellence, but also undermines efforts to develop equitable and locally relevant higher education systems.
Consequently, international university rankings, although popular and widely used, present serious methodological and conceptual problems that limit their validity as tools for evaluating educational and research quality.
Its focus on easily quantifiable indicators, the lack of transparency in its methodologies, and its tendency to encourage strategic behaviors and perpetuate global inequalities, are sufficient reasons to question its usefulness and seek alternative approaches that value the diversity and relevance of educational institutions. higher in different contexts.
It is imperative that the academic community and educational policy makers develop more comprehensive and fair evaluation systems that reflect the true mission of universities in the 21st century.
References
Altbach, P. G. (2006). The dilemmas of ranking. International Higher Education, (42), 2-3.
Dill, D.D., & Soo, M. (2005). Academic quality, league tables, and public policy: A cross-national analysis of university ranking systems. Higher Education, 49(4), 495-533.
Hazelkorn, E. (2011). Rankings and the reshaping of higher education: The battle for world-class excellence. Palgrave Macmillan.
Liu, NC, & Cheng, Y. (2005). The academic ranking of world universities. Higher Education in Europe, 30(2), 127-136.
Marginson, S. (2007). Global university rankings: Implications in general and for Australia. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 29(2), 131-142.
