Over the past decade, the move to recognise excellence in universities has been reflected in increasing attention being paid to university league tables. Without doubt, these have influenced the behaviour of universities, governments, funding agencies, academics and students. Hazelkorn (2010) illustrated this with the results from an international survey. Almost two-thirds of higher education leaders made strategic, organisational, managerial or academic decisions based on the international rankings and 50% used the rankings for publicity and official presentations. In her book, Rankings and the Battle for World-Class Excellence: How Rankings are Reshaping Higher Education, she catalogues the extraordinary influence of the university rankings. Dutch immigration law, for example, prioritises-entry for foreigners with qualifications from the world's top 150 universities. The biggest players in the university rankings game are the Times Higher World University Rankings and the Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities. These have become the arbiters of how well universities are fairing in the global pecking order.
展开▼
