期刊名称：She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation
印刷版ISSN：2405-8726
出版年度：2016
卷号：2
期号：3
页码：215-230
DOI：10.1016/j.sheji.2016.11.002
语种：English
出版社：Elsevier
摘要：Abstract The article summarizes literature on college and university rankings worldwide and the strategies used by various ranking organizations, including those of government and popular media. It traces the history of national and global rankings, indicators used by ranking systems, and the effect of rankings on academic programs and their institutions. Although ranking systems employ diverse criteria and most weight certain indicators over others, there is considerable skepticism that most actually measure educational quality. At the same time, students and their families increasingly consult these evaluations when making college decisions, and sponsors of faculty research consider reputation when forming academic partnerships. While there are serious concerns regarding the validity of ranking institutions when so little data can support differences between one institution and another, college rankings appear to be here to stay. Highlights • Changing economic conditions and an absence of comparable data from institutions has influenced college rankings since their debut. • College rankings use a variety of indicators of educational quality; many are proxies with disputed validity. • College rankings have a number of effects on the behavior of institutions, some not positive; their usefulness in fueling improvement in academic programs is questionable. • College rankings today are a response to consumerist attitudes; they are here to stay, despite overwhelming skepticism about the motives, methodologies, and accuracy of ranking organizations.
