Monday, June 3, 2013

Geographies of world university rankings

Jöns, H, Hoyler, M (2013) Global geographies of higher education: The perspective of world university rankings, Geoforum, 46, 45-59.

Abstract:
This paper contributes to emerging debates about uneven global geographies of higher education through a critical analysis of world university rankings. Drawing on recent work in geography, international higher education and bibliometrics, the paper examines two of the major international ranking schemes [...]. Our analysis illustrates how the substantial variation in ranking criteria produces not only necessarily partial but also very specific global geographies of higher education. In comparison, these reveal a wider tension in the knowledge-based economy between established knowledge centers in Europe and the United States and emerging knowledge hubs in Asia Pacific. An analysis of individual ranking criteria, however, suggests that other measures and subject-specific perspectives would produce very different landscapes of higher education.

[Image Credit: Jöns and Hoyler, 2013)]