Table Of ContentRESEARCH HANDBOOK ON UNIVERSITY RANKINGS
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Research Handbook on University
Rankings
Theory, Methodology, Influence and Impact
Edited by
Ellen Hazelkorn
Partner, BH Associates and Professor Emerita, Technological University
Dublin, Ireland and Joint Editor, Policy Reviews in Higher Education
Georgiana Mihut
Assistant Professor, Department of Education Studies, University of
Warwick, UK
ELGAR HANDBOOKS IN EDUCATION
Cheltenham, UK • Northampton, MA, USA
© Ellen Hazelkorn and Georgiana Mihut 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or photocopying, recording,
or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Published by
Edward Elgar Publishing Limited
The Lypiatts
15 Lansdown Road
Cheltenham
Glos GL50 2JA
UK
Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc.
William Pratt House
9 Dewey Court
Northampton
Massachusetts 01060
USA
A catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021947694
This book is available electronically in the
Political Science and Public Policy subject collection
http://dx.doi.org/10.4337/9781788974981
ISBN 978 1 78897 497 4 (cased)
ISBN 978 1 78897 498 1 (eBook)
EEP BoX
Contents
List of boxes ix
About the editors and contributors x
Foreword: reflections on rankings xxiii
Philip G. Altbach
List of abbreviations xxxi
1 Introduction: putting rankings in context ‒ looking back, looking forward 1
Ellen Hazelkorn and Georgiana Mihut
PART I CONCEPTUAL AND THEORETICAL FRAMINGS
2 The reality underneath the rankings: trends in global science 19
Simon Marginson
3 How do we know what we know? Empirical methodologies for
studying college rankings 38
Jeongeun Kim and Michael Bastedo
4 Rankings and global knowledge governance 54
Tero Erkkilä and Ossi Piironen
5 Theorizing university rankings by comparison: systematic and historical
analogies with arts and sports 67
Jelena Brankovic, Leopold Ringel and Tobias Werron
6 Researching and understanding the influence of rankings on higher
education institutions: logics, methodologies and conceptualisations 80
William Locke
7 Benchmarking and zeitgeist: university ranking in post-turbo-globalized
neoliberalism (Post-TGNL) 93
Hans Peter Hertig
PART II METHODOLOGICAL TENSIONS
8 Multidimensional taxonomy of university rankings 106
Enrique Orduña-Malea and Carmen Perez-Esparrells
9 What do global rankings try to measure? Global university ranking
methodologies since 2003 127
Richard Holmes
v
vi Research handbook on university rankings
10 Rankings and internationalization: an unfortunate alliance 137
Gerardo L. Blanco, Laura E. Rumbley and Hans de Wit
11 Gender equality: a neglected or rhetorical dimension of rankings in
higher education? 150
Pat O’Connor
12 University rankings and the third mission of higher education 163
Robert Kelchen
13 How future-proof are world university rankings? The case of the Most
Innovative Universities ranking 171
Robert Tijssen
PART III INSTITUTIONAL BEHAVIOUR AND THE QUALITY AGENDA
14 Quality assurance and rankings: some European lessons 185
Andrée Sursock
15 Higher education system rankings and benchmarking 197
Cláudia S. Sarrico and Ana Godonoga
16 Institutional responses to university rankings: a tale of adaptation and
cognitive framing 210
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 231
Akiyoshi Yonezawa
18 Striving for excellence in the age of rankings: insights from two leading
research universities in Latin America 247
Andrés Bernasconi and Marcelo Knobel
19 Conflating perception and purpose: the University of Louisville and the
prominence challenge 262
Tara K. Ising and James D. Breslin
20 Are university rankings still important? Perspectives from Greater China 278
William Yat Wai Lo and Shuiyun Liu
PART IV EQUITY, TEACHING AND STUDENT CHOICE
21 The implications of rankings for equity in higher education 295
Laura W. Perna, Jeremy Wright-Kim and Julia Brickfield
22 University rankings and students’ information needs: what is the relation? 307
Jens Jungblut, Bjørn Stensaker and Martina Vukasovic
Contents vii
23 Does teaching count? The relationship between US News & World
Report faculty resource measures and students’ experiences with faculty 320
John Zilvinskis, Louis M. Rocconi and Alexander C. McCormick
24 Teaching and learning in university rankings: a critical review and
reassessment 329
Kyle T. Fassett and Alexander C. McCormick
25 Learning gain in excellence frameworks and rankings 340
Camille Kandiko Howson
PART V (GEO)POLITICS OF HIGHER EDUCATION
26 Ideas for theorizing the geopolitics of higher education in the global
rankings era 354
Brendan Cantwell
27 A critical review of the history, achievements and impacts of China’s
quest for world-class university status 366
Ka Ho Mok and Yuyang Kang
28 The geopolitics of university rankings: not all regions and university
networks stand equal 382
Angel Calderon
29 The treacherous adventure of ranking African universities 399
Damtew Teferra
30 Reputational risk rating and the commercialisation of higher education 413
Hamish Coates, Lu Liu and Xi Hong
31 University rankings and governance by metrics and algorithms 425
George Chen and Leslie Chan
32 The business of university rankings: the case of Times Higher Education 444
Miguel Antonio Lim
PART VI POLICY ISSUES AND RESPONSES
33 Do rankings promote academic excellence? World-class universities in
perspective 455
Jamil Salmi
34 Why research matters: Latin America facing world-class universities
and rankings 473
Alma Maldonado-Maldonado and Christian Cortes-Velasco
viii Research handbook on university rankings
35 Football lessons for universities or how to go beyond ranking 486
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? 509
Thomas Zacharewicz, Koen Jonkers and Ellen Hazelkorn
37 Global rankings and the dynamics of global convergence and local
divergence in higher education 524
Dirk Van Damme
Index 538
Boxes
Box 1.1 Major global rankings, 2021 (according to date of origin) 5
Box 13.1 World’s most innovative universities: data methodology 175
Box 33.1 Creating dynamic clusters: The Cambridge Model 466
Box 36.1 A limited direct impact of global rankings on policymaking processes 513
Box 36.2 Public diffusion of rankings 514
Box 36.3 Diffusion of ranking results by a sample of EU universities 514
Box 36.4 Rankings and research performance-based funding schemes 519
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