Social Science Space

University rankings might claim to provide an index through which students, faculty, and the general public might ascertain a number of things: the quality of education provided by an institution, the potential for networking at an institution, the breadth and depth of research being performed at an institution, and more. The institutional quest towards topping the university rankings can, however, derail efforts towards the improvement of society and higher education at large.

We have entered an era of lifelong media education, says Michelle L. Stack. This includes an examination of how we freely share information about ourselves on social media that is then used to frame how we see others and ourselves.

Higher education is a globally competitive market and institutions with a high rank can claim exceptionalism that brings in students and funding, acknowledges our Michelle Stack. But are rankings genuinely useful for students or for research?

Just in time for the first days of school, Michelle Stack offers an A-to-Z lesson in concepts that should be packed in every university-level schoolbag.

There are at least 12 university rankings that claim to be global, and in this video Michelle Stack focuses on the big three — the Times Higher Education, QS, and the Academic Ranking of World Universities. She asks what does being a “top-ranked” university mean to students? And who decides this ranking anyway?

Is it possible, asks our Michelle Stack, to have an excellent university that is inequitable?

On the 26th anniversary of what has become known as the Montreal Massacre, our Michelle Stack once again commits to confront the ubiquity of interconnected structural violence in its many forms.

We need more research that analyzes the relationship between university rankings, citation indexes, and academic publishers, argues Michelle L. Stack.

Universities around the world are impacted by narrow definitions of world-class education, but a just-concluded trip o India reminded our Michelle Stack that institutions individually and through international collaborations can and do make choices that mitigate or increase inequity.

When universities make note of how they ‘mobilize knowledge,’ they tend to focus on a select group of activities for an equally select audience. That’s a disservice.

In his recent encyclical that made waves for addressing climate change, notes our blogger Michelle Stack, Pope Francis also spoke about the current emphasis on education as a consumer product that focuses on “self-interested pragmatism.”

Social Science Space’s newest core blogger takes a look at how industry has an outsize stake in the business of ranking universities. Has academe gotten in deeper than it bargained for?