ACADEMIC RANKING OF WORLD UNIVERSITIES

INTRODUCTION

• The “university ranking” is an American invention.

• The West ranks hospitals, schools and universities. Hotels are ranked and classified according to stars.

• Ranking is normally conducted through survey processes.

• The university ranking is part of human nature to set hierarchies.

• It is also the nature of contemporary world functions due to the globalization impact.

• Higher education is complex, costly and important, and it always attracts many attentions of politicians, employers, potential students as well as their families. They need quantified evidences about “quality and performance”.

CURRENT ACADEMIC RANKING OF

WORLD UNIVERSITIES

THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT UNIVERSITY RANKING

Advantages• Ranking can give advantages to universities for the

following reasons:1. Universities have Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure

their performances.• Ranking will become self-improvement tools for universities.• Ranking can foster healthy competition among higher education

institutions.

Disadvantages• Whereas the disadvantages of university ranking are as

follows:• Measurement is not based on category or university’s objectives.• Results of ranking can give impacts to staff’s and students’

motivation.

Dilemma of Ranking• In the ranking exercises, the following matters should be

taken into consideration:1. Ranking must be based on the same categories “homogeneous”. • Public Universities need to fulfill national agenda which is not

taken into account in the ranking exercise.• Most ranking systems are driven by the commercial need to sell

more publications.• Rankings are something of a self-fulfilling prophecy: reputation is

considered a significant factor. • There is always data manipulation to place well on rankings.  • Many data collecting exercises are driven by the information that

is available rather than the information that is necessary to accurately gauge the level to which an institution meets particular quality criteria.

• Ranking should not count factors that are proxy for quality.• Ranking must not ignore universities’ missions and goals which

are different between one university to another.• Ranking cannot assume “one size fits all” which norms of

research universities are the gold standard.

Frequent Asked Questions• How to ensure that the data provided

conforms to the questionnaire for best advantage?

• How to develop your university’s strategy to maintain or improve your ranking?

• Why does World Ranking increase student numbers and revenue?

• How ranked universities can attract the most talented student and faculty?

• How to globalize your institution?

TYPES OF RANKING PROVIDERS

• Media• Government Agencies• Independent Professional Bodies• Accrediting Bodies• Funding Organizations• Individual/Group Initiatives• Academic Themselves

WHY THE NEED FOR RANKINGS?

• Higher Education is becoming more global.• Knowledge is the key driver of international

competitiveness.• Ranking will raise awareness of institutions /

universities being ranked.• International Study Trends show that world wide

demand for education is on the rise.• Public funding is being slashed, so one source of

funding is from international students. In some countries international students’ contribution to the economy is higher than the other sectors.

CRITERIA OF UNIVERSITY RANKING

CRITERIA OF TOP UNIVERSITIES

• No. of academic staff with PhD or equivalent• % of results from “Peer Review”

Human Resource

• % of equipment fully operational and calibrated or physical facilities that meet safety and quality standards

• No. of book titles in the Library

Infrastrucure

• Ratio of academic staff to students• No. of programmes accredited by professional bodies

Teaching

• Amount of research grants received• No. of research products / recognitions conferred by

national and international bodies • No. of papers refereed and cited in refereed journals• No. of articles, books and publications per staff• No. of patents attained• No. of products commercialized• No. of postdoctoral

Research

STANDARD INDICATORS BEING USEDCRITERIA

• Income generated from consultancy activitiesConsultancy

• CGPA of students admitted into the University• % of graduates employed after graduation• % of results from Employer Survey• No. of University Alumni awarded “Nobel Prizes and

Fields Medals”• No. of PhD students

Students

• No. of international academic staff• No. of international students

Internationalization

• Compliance to International Quality Standard i.e. ISO9000 QMS

• % of Customer Satisfaction Index

Service Delivery

STANDARD INDICATORS BEING USEDCRITERIA

CRITERIA OF WORLD UNIVERSITIES

40%Peer Review : Composite score drawn from peer review (which is divided into 5 subject areas)

5%International Faculty : Score based on international faculty

International Outlook

5%International Students : Score based on proportion of international students

10%Recruiter Review : Score based on responses to recruiter survey

Graduate Employability

Teaching Quality

Research Quality

Criteria

Student Faculty : Score based on student/faculty ratio

Citations per Faculty : Score based on research performance factored against the size of the research body

IndicatorTimes Higher Education Survey

Ranking BodiesWeight

20%

20%

Criteria

20%Articles published in Nature and ScienceResearch Output

20%Articles in Science Citation Index-expanded, Social Science Citation Index, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index

20%Staff of an institution winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals

Quality of Faculty

Size of Institution

Quality of Education

Criteria

Academic performance with respect to the size of an institution

Highly cited researchers in 21 broad subject categories

Alumni of an institution winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals

IndicatorShanghai Jiao Tong World University Ranking

Ranking BodiesWeight

20%

10%

10%

Criteria

Quantity and Quality of Research

Quantity and Quality of Researchers

Criteria

100Number of recognitions/awards/ stewardsip conferred by national and international learned and professional bodies

With balanced distribution of staff with >20 yrs experience, 10-20 yrs and <10 yrs experience

Research Experience

At RM50,000/staff/yr of which at least 20% is from international sources and 20% from private sector

Research grants for S&T academic staff:

1. Public• Private (including contract

research)• International

2 papers in national/international refereed and cited journals per staff/yr or cumulative impact factor for the institution of not less than 5000

Publications

10/yrPost-docs appointed

Should not be less than 60% of grants attained/yr

Research Expenditure

60% of academic staff involved as Principal Investigator

Critical MassResearch University

60%Percentage of Academic Staff with PhD or Equivalent

Ranking Bodies

WeightIndicator

30%Inter-institution (international) participation

10%% of International Postgraduate Students

1 PG : 4 UGRatio of PG to UG

Not less than 10%% of PG fellowships/grants from prestigious bodies awarded to PG via research mode

50% of PG Intake with CGPA > 3.00

% of PG IntakeQuality of Postgraduate Students

Not less than RM20 million/yrIncome generated from training courses/services/consultancy/PG students fees/endowment/gifts

Professional Services and Gifts

30/yrNumber of patents attained/number of products commercialized/number of technology know-how licensing/number of IPR/copyrights

Innovation

3 PG : 1 staffRatio of PG to academic staff

70%Inter-institution (national) participationNetworking and Linkages

Support Facilities

Quantity of Postgraduate

Criteria

1:18 academic staff of which 60% will be from S&T

Ratio of PhDs graduated to academic staff

Ranking Bodies

75% compliance attainedEquipment fully operational and calibrated or physical facilities met safety & quality standards, supporting facilities

WeightIndicator

Quantity and Quality of Research

Quantity and Quality of Researchers

Criteria

500Number of recognitions/awards/ stewardsip conferred by national and international learned and professional bodies

With 60% distribution of staff with >20 yrs experience, 20% with 10-20 yrs and 20% with <10 yrs experience

Research Experience

At RM1,000,000/staff/yr of which at least 40% is from international sources and 40% from private sector

Research grants for S&T academic staff:

1. Public• Private (including contract

research)• International

5 papers in national/international refereed and cited journals per staff/yr or cumulative impact factor for the institution of not less than 5000

Publications

1 post-doc per academic staffPost-docs appointed

Should not be less than 70% of grants attained/yr

Research Expenditure

85% of academic staff involved as Principal Investigator

Critical MassWorld Class Research University 95%Percentage of Academic Staff with

PhD or Equivalent

Ranking Bodies

WeightIndicator

50%Inter-institution (international) participation

15%% of International Postgraduate Students

4 PG : 6 UGRatio of PG to UG

Not less than 20%% of PG fellowships/grants from prestigious bodies awarded to PG via research mode

50% of PG Intake with CGPA > 3.25

% of PG IntakeQuality of Postgraduate Students

Not less than RM600 million/yrIncome generated from training courses/services/consultancy/PG students fees/endowment/gifts

Professional Services and Gifts

100/yrNumber of patents attained/number of products commercialized/number of technology know-how licensing/number of IPR/copyrights

Innovation

5 PG : 1 staffRatio of PG to academic staff

50%Inter-institution (national) participationNetworking and Linkages

Support Facilities

Quantity of Postgraduate

Criteria

1:3 academic staff of which 80% will be from S&T

Ratio of PhDs graduated to academic staff

Ranking Bodies

95% compliance attainedEquipment fully operational and calibrated or physical facilities met safety & quality standards, supporting facilities

WeightIndicator

Criteria from Shanghai Jiao Tong : 50%• Staff of an institution winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals• Articles published in Nature and Science• Articles in Science Citation Index-expanded, Social Science Citation

Index, and Arts & Humanities Citation IndexCriteria from Times Higher World University Ranking : 40%

• % of international academic staff • % of international students• Ratio of academic staff to students• Score based on research performance factored against the size of

the research bodyCriteria of Library : 10%

• No. of volumes in the university library

Newsweek International

• Teaching Quality Rating• Research Rating• Entry Standards• Students per member of academic staff• Library/Computing Spending• Student Facilities Spending• Degree Classifications• Graduate Destinations• Completion Rate

Australian University Ranking

CriteriaRanking Bodies

15Research Quality

15Research Performance

2Patents

5Rate of growth for research quality

Research (50)

Criteria

Rate of growth for research performance

Research Volume

IndicatorOIC Ranking

Ranking BodiesWeight

5

8

Criteria

3Ratio faculty to students

3Alumni that become highly cited researchers

3Alumni that did win awards

4Ratio of faculty members with PhD to total number of faculty

8Faculty highly cited researchers

6Faculty members with awards

2Ratio of postgraduate students to total number of students

3Rate of growth of postgraduate students

Education (35)Criteria

Students winning international Olympiads

IndicatorRanking Bodies Weight

3

Criteria

1International Exchange Programmes

1 ½International Conferences

1 ½Ratio of faculty members with foreign PhD degrees to total number of faculty members with PhD degrees

1Ratio of international students to total students

2Ratio of international faculty to total faculty

International Outlook (7)

Criteria IndicatorRanking Bodies Weight

Criteria

1Life learning courses

2 ½Contracts and consultancies incomes

1Entrepreneurship programmes and industrial linkages

Facilities (3)

1/2Number of incubated projects and spin-off companies

1Number of university’s research Institutes/Centres

1Number of journals/periodicals accessible (hard or soft copies)

1Number of book titles per student

Socio-Economic Impact (5)

Criteria IndicatorRanking Bodies Weight

Criteria

IMPROVEMENTS TO CURRENT CRITERIA• Purposes and goals of the rankings

o Should recognize the diversity of institutions and take into account their different missions and goals (ranking tends to ignore these issues).

• Design and weighting of indicatorso Be transparent regarding the methodology used for creating the

rankings.o Appropriate ways of measuring outcomes, such as retention and

graduation rates, scores on examinations, etc.

• Collection and processing of datao Use audited and verifiable data whenever possible.

• Presentation of ranking resultso Provide consumers with clear understanding of all factors used to

develop ranking, and offer them a choice in how rankings are displayed such as by allowing them to determine how factors are weighed on interactive web sites.

Sources “Berlin Principles on Ranking of Higher Education Institutions” -

PROCEDURES AND MECHANISMS FOR UNIVERSITY SELECTION

• Assign universities with the same groups of their peers.

• Academic reputation & research outputs.• Faculty and student diversity and background.• Webpage becomes impact factor, i.e. volumes of

published materials on the web.

“If we don’t produce our own ranking, don’t be surprised that others are going to do it for us”