1. What’s the future of rankings in an age wherein information asymmetry is being solved through the internet and user generated common resources?
Well the principal means by which rankings are consumed is also via the internet but the larger the volume of data available the more important independent rankings will become as a means of shortlisting to a manageable number of choices. User-generated material currently fails to engender sufficient trust in isolation – especially around such an important choice as choosing a university. It is more commonly used to corroborate an existing viewpoint rather than to help form one.
2. If Universities and bschools decide to disclose/furnish all data in a common pool for the perusal of candidates, will it undermine the value of rankings?
On the contrary, the more open institutions are with their data the more robust and sophisticated the rankings can and will become.
3. There are so many methodologies across the world for rankings. As a candidate, how would I decide which methodology to follow or trust?
Well it’s mainly down to personal choice and which methodology aligns most closely with your view on what is most important. However, if you want an independent quality standard on rankings perhaps look no further than the IREG Audit (www.ireg-observatory.org) which to my knowledge is the only formal external assessment of rankings. QS remains the only international ranking to be IREG Approved in May 2013.
4. What’s next for you after the BRICS University Rankings?
The next round of our well received subject rankings will land early next year and we are looking at other regions too. Most of all we are seeking to listen and respond to the needs of international students and universities.
5. How have you improved your rankings (methodology and output) over the past 5 years?
Survey response numbers have grown dramatically, we have increased the number of universities included, worked hard to strengthen the shared understanding of our data definitions and revised and evolved our data collection systems and processes as well as introducing additional lists which now collectively allow larger numbers of institutions to highlight their strengths.
6. What are your expectations from Indian government in terms of participation and usage of the BRICS University Rankings?
I met with the Minister for HRD, Shashi Tharoor , as well as the Education Secretary. The overall read I got from them is strong support for Indian institutions supplying data to all international rankings but that their focus was improving Higher Education for the Indian context and rankings are only really important insofar as they can provide a yardstick to contribute to the broader effort. The BRICS exercise will feature a much larger number of Indian institutions, so naturally is of interest to a larger part of the sector, but the overriding conclusion from our event on Friday was the requirement for stronger QA mechanisms – whether rankings, ratings, classifications or accreditations – for Indian Higher Education as a whole.