Research Handbook on University Rankings: Theory, Methodology, Influence and Impact

Description

Gathering unique and thoughtful contributions from leading international scholars, this timely Research Handbook offers diverse perspectives on university rankings twenty years after the first global rankings emerged. It presents an in-depth analysis that reflects the current state of research on rankings, their influence and impact. The Research Handbook explores how rankings and their impacts can be theorized and conceptualized, as well as the methodological tensions that rankings generate. It further examines how rankings have affected institutional behaviours and interacted with the quality agenda in higher education, examining what rankings mean for equity, teaching and learning, and students. Chapters also analyse how rankings interact with and accentuate the geopolitics of higher education, looking ahead to emergent policy issues and responses to rankings. Higher education researchers, policy and decision makers as well as rankings followers will find the critical insights into globalisation and geopolitics, quality assurance, international comparability and assessment, and student outcomes and learning in this Research Handbook interesting. It will also be a useful read for higher education and university leaders and managers wanting a better understanding of rankings and their usefulness and challenges. Contents List of boxes About the editors and contributors Foreword: reflections on rankings • Philip G. Altbach List of abbreviations 1 Introduction: putting rankings in context — looking back, looking forward • Ellen Hazelkorn and Georgiana Mihut PART I: CONCEPTUAL AND THEORETICAL FRAMINGS 2 The reality underneath the rankings: trends in global science • Simon Marginson 3 How do we know what we know? Empirical methodologies for studying college rankings • Jeongeun Kim and Michael Baste 4 Rankings and global knowledge governance • Tero Erkkilä and Ossi Piironen 5 Theorizing university rankings by comparison: systematic and historical analogies with arts and sports • Jelena Brankovic, Leopold Ringel and Tobias Werron 6 Researching and understanding the influence of rankings on higher education institutions: logics, methodologies and conceptualisations • William Locke 7 Benchmarking and zeitgeist: university ranking in post-turbo-globalized neoliberalism (Post-TGNL) • Hans Peter Hertig PART II: METHODOLOGICAL TENSIONS 8 Multidimensional taxonomy of university rankings • Enrique Orduña-Malea and Carmen Perez-Esparrells 9 What do global rankings try to measure? Global university ranking methodologies since 2003 • Richard Holmes 10 Rankings and internationalization: an unfortunate alliance • Gerardo L. Blanco, Laura E. Rumbley and Hans de Wit 11 Gender equality: a neglected or rhetorical dimension of rankings in higher education? • Pat O’Connor 12 University rankings and the third mission of higher education • Robert Kelchen 13 How future-proof are world university rankings? The case of the Most Innovative Universities ranking • Robert Tijssen PART III: INSTITUTIONAL BEHAVIOUR AND THE QUALITY AGENDA 14 Quality assurance and rankings: some European lessons • Andrée Sursock 15 Higher education system rankings and benchmarking • Cláudia S. Sarrico and Ana Godonoga 16 Institutional responses to university rankings: a tale of adaptation and cognitive framing • Andrea Bonaccorsi, Paola Belingheri, Brigida Blasi and Sandra Romagnosi 17 Reimaging university identities through rankings in Japan: the transformation of national policies and university behaviours in the broader East Asian context • Akiyoshi Yonezawa 18 Striving for excellence in the age of rankings: insights from two leading research universities in Latin America • Andrés Bernasconi and Marcelo Knobel 19 Conflating perception and purpose: the University of Louisville and the prominence challenge • Tara K. Ising and James D. Breslin 20 Are university rankings still important? Perspectives from Greater China • William Yat Wai Lo and Shuiyun Liu PART IV: EQUITY, TEACHING AND STUDENT CHOICE 21 The implications of rankings for equity in higher education • Laura W. Perna, Jeremy Wright-Kim and Julia Brickfield 22 University rankings and students’ information needs: what is the relation? • Jens Jungblut, Bjørn Stensaker and Martina Vukasovic 23 Does teaching count? The relationship between US News & World Report faculty resource measures and students’ experiences with faculty • John Zilvinskis, Louis M. Rocconi and Alexander C. McCormick 24 Teaching and learning in university rankings: a critical review and reassessment • Kyle T. Fassett and Alexander C. McCormick 25 Learning gain in excellence frameworks and rankings • Camille Kandiko Howson PART V: (GEO)POLITICS OF HIGHER EDUCATION 26 Ideas for theorizing the geopolitics of higher education in the global rankings era • Brendan Cantwell 27 A critical review of the history, achievements and impacts of China’s quest for world-class university status • Ka Ho Mok and Yuyang Kang 28 The geopolitics of university rankings: not all regions and university networks stand equal • Angel Calderon 29 The treacherous adventure of ranking African universities • Damtew Teferra 30 Reputational risk rating and the commercialisation of higher education • Hamish Coates, Lu Liu and Xi Hong 31 University rankings and governance by metrics and algorithms • George Chen and Leslie Chan 32 The business of university rankings: the case of Times Higher Education • Miguel Antonio Lim PART VI: POLICY ISSUES AND RESPONSES 33 Do rankings promote academic excellence? World-class universities in perspective • Jamil Salmi 34 Why research matters: Latin America facing world-class universities and rankings • Alma Maldonado-Maldonado and Christian Cortes-Velasco 35 Football lessons for universities or how to go beyond ranking • Sebastian Stride, Yoran Beldengrün, Ruggero Cortini, Annamaria Donnarumma, Nicolau Duran, Xavi Gimenez, Matthias Heuser, Francesco Massucci, Sabine Plaud, Guillem Rull and Sonia Veiga 36 Are global rankings compatible with higher education policy? • Thomas Zacharewicz, Koen Jonkers and Ellen Hazelkorn 37 Global rankings and the dynamics of global convergence and local divergence in higher education • Dirk Van Damme Index