The fall of Ireland's top universities in the world rankings should not be dismissed. There are concrete reasons why the trend is unlikely to reverse any time soon, writes SEÁN FLYNN, Education Editor
THEY WON’T ADMIT it, of course, but at midnight last Wednesday scores of academics in Ireland and elsewhere feverishly logged on to the QS website as the company published its world university rankings for 2010.
Academics tend to be sniffy and rather disdainful of these and other rankings. It’s easy to understand the scepticism. QS itself admits the process can be like comparing “apples with oranges”. Many universities bear little resemblance to one another in terms of funding, scale, location, mission or output. But all aim to teach students and produce research and this, QS maintains, provides a sufficient basis for comparison.
HOW THE RANKINGS WORK
The QS World University Rankings are regarded as the most reliable guide to university performance. Broadly, colleges are ranked on the basis of data gathered on citations per faculty (the number of times the university’s research papers are cited by other academics); peer academic review (canvassing the opinions of other international academics); employer review (the opinions of industry and multinational companies); and staff-student ratios.
The number of citations is among the most important factors. These days QS can easily track the citations in recognised academic books or journals, using various academic websites. For universities, having a small number of academics with a huge number of citations is invaluable. In football parlance, these intellectuals are the proven goalscorers who will push an institution up the international rankings.
The wealthier universities in Britain and the US will often target these academics simply to boost their rankings. As one academic explains: “It’s a win-win situation if you can land one of these guys. You get all the credits for their citations in the rankings. And you inflict real damage on their old university – usually a competitor.’’
The rankings can be manipulated in other ways too. Colleges may not always tell the full story about their staff-student ratio, for example. That said, there is a useful safeguard in the QS system. Colleges are also assessed on their research income per student – so it might be better for them to fess up about the staff-student ratio.
THE FALL OF THE IRISH
Like them or not, the QS rankings have a powerful impact, often shaping the education agenda. This year’s ranking – topped for the first time by a non-American university, Cambridge – has already caused much soul-searching and angst in the US.
In Ireland, the fall in the world rankings for both Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin has raised awkward questions about a sustainable funding base for higher education. On Wednesday Trinity’s Provost, John Hegarty, was forthright in his assessment on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland. Given the cutbacks in staff and resources, the move down the rankings was not unexpected, he said, and the harsh reality was that Irish universities faced a continuing downward spiral in the world rankings unless they were properly resourced.
The fall in the world rankings of Trinity and UCD created waves because it reversed a decade-long pattern in which Irish universities had steadily made their way up the ladder.
Among Irish universities UCD had experienced the most spectacular rise, crashing into the world’s top 100 last year. Only five years ago, it had languished at 221. All of this has been useful ammunition for UCD president Hugh Brady, as he faced down his critics in Belfield.
Brady’s modernisation programme and his “pro-business strategy’’ have unleashed a storm of protest, but UCD’s rise in the world rankings has been a powerful rejoinder. Internal critics carped, but the international signal was clear: UCD was on the up and up – until this week.
WHY RANKINGS MATTER
The rankings can be critical for universities seeking corporate partners to help fund research projects. Former Dublin City University (DCU) president Ferdinand von Prondzynski recalls: “When DCU entered the top 300 it transformed our relationship with some companies at a stroke. Suddenly, everything had changed.’’
Rankings can also be important for Irish universities hoping to bring in the brightest students from overseas. One university president says: “Academics will look very closely at your world ranking before they make a decision.”
The same is true for international students. Irish universities say students from the US, India and China are hugely aware of the world rankings. The QS list is often the first port of call for foreign students.
THE OUTLOOK FOR IRELAND?
This week’s rankings for Irish universities are based on data supplied in late 2009, just as cuts across the sector were taking root. University College Cork and NUI Galway, in particular, have done well to buck the overall trend by climbing in the rankings.
But this progression could be short-lived. By the end of this year staffing levels across universities in Ireland will be down by 6 per cent. This will feed into next year’s world university rankings, cutting into our staff-student ratios.
The Government may like to roll out that giddy stuff about our universities driving the smart economy. But most observers believe a continuing decline in the world rankings is inevitable. Things may get a lot worse before they get better.
topuniversities.com
Finding their level? Key figures
THE QS WORLD TOP 10 UNIVERSITIES
1 Cambridge University, UK
2 Harvard University, US
3 Yale University, US
4 University College London, UK
5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US
6 Oxford University, UK
7 Imperial College London, UK
8 University of Chicago, US
9 California Institute of Technology, US
10 Princeton, US
QS IRISH UNIVERSITIES
(2009 ranking in brackets)
52 Trinity College Dublin (43)
114 University College Dublin (89)
184 University College Cork(207)
232 NUI Galway (243)
330 Dublin City University(279)
395 Dublin Institute of Technology (326)
401 NUI Maynooth (437)
451 University of Limerick (451)
