Japanese Universities and the Global Rankings Game Speaker: Annette Bradford, Assistant professor in the School of Business Administration at Meiji University and an adjunct fellow at ICAS

1. JAPANESE UNIVERSITIES AND
THE GLOBAL RANKINGS GAME
Annette Bradford
Meiji University
18th November 2016
ICAS
Temple University
Japan Campus

2. TODAI TUMBLES FROM TOP OF ASIA
UNIVERSITY RANKINGS TO SEVENTH PLACE
(JT 21 Jun 2016)

3. • Ten main rankings systems
• Top three:
• Academic Rankings of World Universities (ARWU)
(Shanghai Jiao Tong University Rankings)
• Times Higher Education
• QS
• 66 separate rankings and subrankings belonging to the
above three (region/faculty/field/subject….)

4. World Rankings
6 indicators
• Academic Reputation 40%
• Employer Reputation 10%
• Student-to-faculty Ratio 20%
• Citations per Faculty Member 20%
• International Faculty Ratio 5%
• International Student Ratio 5%
Asia Rankings
10 indicators
• Academic Reputation 30%
• Employer Reputation 20%
• Faculty/Student Ratio 15%
• Citations per Paper 10%
• Papers per Faculty Member 10%
• Staff with a PhD 5%
• International Faculty 2.5%
• International Students 2.5%
• Inbound Exchange Students 2.5%
• Outbound exchange Students 2.5%
World Rankings
13 indicators
• Teaching 30%
 Reputation 15%
• Research 30%
 Reputation 18%
• Citations 30% (inc. books)
• International Outlook 7.5%
• Industry Income 2.5%
Asia Rankings
13 indicators
• Teaching 25%
 Reputation 10%
• Research 30%
 Reputation 15%
• Citations 30% (no books)
• International Outlook 7.5%
• Industry Income 7.5%

5. Asia Rank
2016 (2015)
World University
Rank 2016-17
(2015-16)
Institution Country
1 (2) 24 (26) National University of Singapore Singapore
=2 (10) 54 (55) Nanyang Technological University Singapore
=2 (4) 29 (42) Peking University China
4 (3) =43 (=44) University of Hong Kong Hong
Kong
5 (5) 35 (=47) Tsinghua University China
6 (7) 49 (59) Hong Kong University of Science
and Technology
Hong
Kong
7 (1) 39 (43) University of Tokyo Japan
8 =104 (116) Pohang University of Science and
Technology
South
Korea
9 (6) =72 (85) Seoul National University South
Korea
10 (8) 89 (148) Korea Advanced Institute of
and Technology (KAIST)
South
Korea
Kyoto University ranked 9th (2015) and 11th (2016) in Asia & =88 (2015) and =91 (2016

6. THE RANKINGS GAME
“Rankings in parallel with the Olympics, are highly
competitive, offering participants the potential to
earn prestigious prizes or rewards, that can shape
their prospects for the future in profound and
quite tangible ways.”
• High international visibility
• Interest from desirable prospective students &
faculty
• Money from private funding agencies, industry,
philanthropists, and government
(Yudkevich, Altbach & Rumbley, 2016)

7. THE RANKINGS GAME
1)The global rankings “playing field”
2)The medal count: going for gold
3)Excellence begets excellence: the need
for feeder systems
4)Lost luster: the dark side of the race for
gold
5)Citius, Altius, Fortius – the right motto,
the wrong game
(Yudkevich, Altbach & Rumbley, 2016)

8. THE GLOBAL RANKINGS
“PLAYING FIELD”
• Experience and money matter
• The English-advantage
(Yudkevich, Altbach & Rumbley, 2016)

9. THE MEDAL COUNT: GOING
FOR GOLD
• A zero-sum game
• Resource expenditure
(Yudkevich, Altbach & Rumbley, 2016)

10. EXCELLENCE BEGETS EXCELLENCE:
THE NEED FOR FEEDER SYSTEMS
• ‘Winners’ cannot emerge from
weak systems
• Strong universities require a
competitive environment
• Systems must be able to draw
talent
(Yudkevich, Altbach & Rumbley, 2016)

11. LOST LUSTER: THE DARK SIDE OF
THE RACE FOR GOLD
• Strategic manipulation of numbers
• Rankings focused on commercial
gain
(Yudkevich, Altbach & Rumbley, 2016)

12. FASTER, HIGHER, STRONGER – THE
RIGHT MOTTO, THE WRONG GAME
• Strive for excellence in all areas
(Yudkevich, Altbach & Rumbley, 2016)

13. KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AVERAGE TOP
200 UNIVERSITY IN TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION
WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKINGS
• The top 200 represents the top 1% of the world’s higher education institutions.
The average top 200 university:
• Has a total annual income of $751,139 per academic (compared with
$606,345 for a top 400 university)
• Has a student-to-staff ratio of 11.7:1 (compared with 12.5:1 for a top 400
university)
• Hires 20% of its staff from abroad (compared with 18% for a top 400
university)
• Has a total research income of $229,109 per academic (compared with
$168,739 for a top 400 university)
• Publishes 43% of all its research papers with at least one international co-
author (compared with 42% at a top 400 university)
• Has a student body made up of 19% international students (compared
with 16% at a top 400 university)Available: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/news/the-formula-for-a-world-class-university-