QS World University Rankings 2010: Different Surveys for Different Stakeholders
The University of Cambridge tops the QS World University Rankings 2010, while it is behind five American institutions in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2010/11, both released in the past fortnight. There are much wider gaps in the result of three global surveys, reference points for many foreign education aspirants.
For instance, University of California, Berkeley, is second in the latest Shanghai Jiao Tong University rankings, 8th in THE's and 28th in QS's. University College London is fourth in the THE list and 22nd in QS's. King's College London is number 77 in THE's and 21 in QS's. University of Bristol stands at 27 in QS and 68 in THE. So, what should students make of these rungs-apart findings?
Different means
A given cause is the difference in intended objectives (target users) and the methodology for each study.
Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) evaluates research institutions. It "uses six objective indicators to rank world universities, including the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, number of highly cited researchers selected by Thomson Scientific, number of articles published in journals of Nature and Science, number of articles indexed in Science Citation Index - Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index, and per capita performance with respect to the size of an institution." Thus it gives a different outcome.
Interestingly, the ARWU was conceived to find out the international standing of China's top universities.
On the other hand, the QS offering is mainly aimed at students. Ben Sowter, head of the QS Intelligence Unit, explained, "The ongoing QS methodology, which remains broadly unchanged since 2004, and the brand new THE approach are highly divergent. The QS mission is ‘to enable motivated people anywhere in the world to fulfil their potential through educational achievement, international mobility and career development'.
As such when we designed our ranking back in 2003/4, we sought to reflect the interests of a broad group of university stakeholders, students, parents, employers and academics, but with special emphasis on the needs of students and parents. THE's new rankings seem very oriented towards the interests of university administrators and academics, seeking to compare research income levels and citation impact, amongst other things. The Shanghai Jaiotong ranking, too, is an ‘academic ranking'."