Rankings and the "Public Good" Role of Higher Education

• In Event: 46.017 - University Rankings and the Politics of Higher Education

Abstract

This paper assesses the policy tensions and implications as governments seek to achieve global competitive advantage by aligning their higher education systems with rankings criteria. The paper assesses the dominant policy paradigm – the world-class university – in the context of an emerging oppositional paradigm – the civic university. As the WCU seeks global recognition, it is encouraged to lose its “sense of territorial identity and…ties to local and regional public support for their educational, research and civic missions” (Christopherson, Gertler and Gray, 2014, 4). Whereas local, regional, national and international were previously seen within a balanced, complementary and synergistic set of portfolio activities, today they are portrayed as contradictory facets of the university as the “global dimension has become qualitatively more important” (Marginson, 2013, 59). Because of what rankings measure and how HEIs have responded, to what extent have rankings polarised the policy trade-offs?
The paper is divided into three parts, each of which examine a particular aspect:
Part 1 sets the discussion in context with an overview of policy responses to global rankings. Three trends are noted: i) Rankings have sharpened discussion around assessment and the measurement of higher education performance, and quality. Societies which perform well are celebrated as “reference societies” (Sellar and Lingard, 2013); ii) The battle for talent is now on a par with other geo-political struggles for natural resources. High-ranked universities act as a beacon for mobile capital and talent; iii) Given the challenges of global competitiveness and funding excellence in an era of fiscal constraint, many governments are choosing to hierarchically differentiate between types of institutions serving different needs and populations.
Part 2 examines the literature and policy experience of the dominant neo-liberal policy model, which seeks to establish the world-class university (WCU) as the pinnacle of a reputational hierarchy. (e.g. Mohrman et al. 2008; Salmi, 2009; Deem, Lucas and Mok, 2009; Altbach and Salmi, 2011). It requires the university to adopt/adapt prestige-seeking characteristics of top-100 universities, and realign priorities or withdraw from others.
Part 3 considers the growing debate about the “public good” role of higher education as a rebuttal to the increasingly unfettered WCU. Ironically, pursuit of “world-classness” is occurring at the same time society is demanding a closer alignment between higher education and society, underpinning debate today about accountability, impact and benefit – and ultimately about what public universities are for (Calhoun, 2006). In this context, there is a re-appreciation of the values and mission of the US land-grant university, and an emergent literature around the “entrepreneurial”, “civic” and “flagship” university, which promote a holistic integration across teaching and research, while maintaining a balance across local, regional, national and global (e.g. Clark, 1998; Goddard, 2009; Douglass, 2014). There are implications for systems and institutions.

Background: Ellen Hazelkorn is Policy Advisor to the Higher Education Authority (Ireland), and Director of the Higher Education Policy Research Unit. She has authored Developing Research in New Institutions (OECD, 2005), and Rankings and the Reshaping of Higher Education: The Battle for World-Class Excellence (Palgrave 2011; forthcoming 2nd ed.,

Author

• Ellen Hazelkorn, Dublin Institute of Technology