A chara, – While I agree with Micheline Sheehy-Skeffington's criticism of university rankings based solely on research output (December 20th), I cannot understand why a ranking system based on the number of senior female academics would be in any way superior.
The only true justification I can see for this type of system would be a belief that women are inherently better researchers and educators than men, meaning that the overall quality of a university increases as fewer men are hired. However, I am not aware of any evidence that demonstrates this to be the case.
Furthermore, this explicit privileging of one gender over the other, while still fashionable in liberal circles, seems rather outdated.
Perhaps focusing on metrics that actually impact on students, such as employment rates following graduation, expected earnings, and overall value for money, would be more helpful. – Is mise,
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RUAIRÍ Ó CRUALAOICH,
Cambridge,
Massachusetts.