A space to explore, share and shape the issues facing social and behavioral scientists
Academic freedom is widely championed as the foundation of a good university. It is seen as vital in speaking “truth to […]
“Free Universities: Putting the Academic Freedom Index Into Action,” a report released by the Global Public Policy Institute in March, works as part of an effort to put the Academic Freedom Index (AFi) into action.
Lizzie Gadd argues that any commitment to responsible research assessment needs to include action on global university rankings. She argues universities should unite around the principle of being ‘much more than their rank.’
Academic book publishing is under threat. Global university rankings and competition for funding and international student enrolments are reshaping the […]
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.
How do we decide what is a world-class university? Who decides? How do they decide? In this free webinar, the […]
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?
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?
The Russell Group argues that research funding should be concentrated in the most elite institutions, Two sociologists who have studied how Asian universities have fared in global rankings argue just the opposite.
We need more research that analyzes the relationship between university rankings, citation indexes, and academic publishers, argues Michelle L. Stack.
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.
