Download Dodo Bird Veridct vs. ranking in Higher Education: Who Stands for

Dodo Bird Verdict vs. Ranking in
Higher Education:
Who Stands for Competitiveness?
Professor, Ph.D., Daniel DAVID
Babeş-Bolyai University
http://www.clinicalpsychology.ro
The Problem
• There are (too) many actors in education and
research
• Education/research resources are limited
• Strategies to access resources:
– Access resources by competition
• Dodo Bird Strategy vs. Rigorous Rankings
– Access resources by (more or less) “equal”
distribution
• Rarely today (in some former communist countries)
About Dodo Bird...
• In L. Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
(1865), at a certain point of the story some
characters become wet - Problem
• In order to dry themselves, the Dodo Bird decided to
start a competition - Aim
• Everyone was to run around a lake until they were
dry. However, nobody cared to measure how far, in
what direction, and from where each person had run,
nor how long etc. - Rules
• When they asked the Dodo who had won, he thought
long and hard and then said wisely: "Everybody has
won and all must have prizes“ - Results
About Academic Rankings
• International vs. Local Rankings
– International
• QS Word University Ranking (Times)
• Academic Word University Ranking (Shanghai)
• Taiwanese Word Academic ranking
– Local
• US News and World Report Ranking
• RAE – UK
• Various criteria and indicators
– Global vs. Specific
– Research vs. Education/Research
About Academic Rankings
• Attitudes to Academic Rankings
– Mixed
• Positive
– Used to marketing the university
• Negative
– US (Stanford University vs. US News and World
Report), Canada, EU debates
• Neutral
– Behave as the ranking does not...
About Academic Rankings
• The first Romanian ranking of universities (David &
Ad-Astra, 2005)
– Based on Web of Science – Thomson/ISI and the number of
faculty
• Follow-up investigation
– Quantitative analysis (N=150 professionals; survey type)
• Negative attitude: 70%
• Neutral – 20%
• Positive – 10%
– Qualitative analyses – content analyses based on
newspapers, articles, papers
• Negative framing and gross distortions of the Web of Science
system!
Evolutionary Concepts
• A dominance hierarchy is the
organization of individuals in a group
that occurs when competition for
resources is strong (e.g., lack of
resources, many actors etc.
– such social structures lead to more stable
system, with reduced tension among
individuals.
• Natural tendency!
Evolutionary Concept
• Social ranking
– Stability
• Each member knows his/her position
• Each member is important for the
system (even the “omega” position)
• Based on that position each member will
access appropriate resources
Academic Ranking
• Instability
• Members do not know or do not publically
assume their real position in the system (if they
are not in the top)
• Most of the members are not important for the
system
• Access to the resources can be influenced by
other means (e.g., lobby, power) than
competitiveness
Implications
•
A Rigorous and Influential Academic Ranking must have the following profile in order to get accepted:
– Clear objectives + (almost all rankings)
• Ranking - a mean to reach an aim (e.g., better education/research) not an aim! - (few of the
rankings)
• Diagnostic/assessment (where/how we are – where/how we want to be)
• Developmental strategies
– Criteria and indicators
–
Clear rules (methodology) + (almost all rankings, but see the “peer/review” debate)
– Criteria and indicators
–
•
Clear role prescriptions for each position in the ranking
• Each position is publically available + (almost all rankings but see the “peer/review” debate)
• Each position is important for the system (minimum standards) – (almost none of the
rankings)
• Each position allow access to some resources - (almost none of the rankings)
Romanian case:
– New law which ask for ranking in the national system!
– Research and education strategy (where/how we are – where/how we want to be)
– Each position is important for the system (minimum standards)
• ARACIS / minimum standards to enter into national system
– Each position allow access to some resources • Advanced research universities vs. Research and education universities vs. Education
universities
• Global vs. Specific (domain) rankings
DODO VERDICT Versus RIGOROUS RANKINGS