How to place European Research Universities in the global rankings? Policies and strategies of University International Excellence in France and Spain

Although global rankings do not classify national university systems, the majority of countries are reformulating their HE policies to improve the ranking position of their best universities. Accordingly, this paper studies the case of France and Spain through the analysis of their respective national policies for the promotion of university international excellence (stateMlevel response to global rankings). In particular, we discuss two initiatives of university collaboration (institutionalMlevel response to global rankings) aimed to create synergies and increase the international visibility of the participant institutions: the new branded university Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL) and the Campus of International Excellence of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and the Spanish Research Council (CEI UAM+CSIC). In both case studies the participant institutions keep their autonomy and legal personality, a difficult alliance formula to administrate. Nevertheless, they are good practices that reflect a wide stateMrun strategy for the modernization of both national university systems

Sistema de Classificação e o Futuro da Pesquisa local

World university rankings and their global popularity present a number of far-reaching impacts for vernacular scholarship. This article employs a multidimensional approach to analyze the ranking regime’s threat to local scholarship and knowledge construction through a study of Japanese research universities. First, local conditions that have led to the perpetuation of the world university rankings are examined. Next, the use of bibliometric indicators in performance assessment, a critical consequence of the popularization of the world university rankings, is tested against two prevailing factors in Japanese academia: the bipolar character of academic publishing and institution-centered audit. Despite high-flying idealism, the quest to improve positions in the rankings may fall short of addressing real needs of enhancing individual performance in pursuit of globally relevant research and ensuring equity among different generations of scholars. The study also points to the precarious future of vernacular scholarship, as the rankings celebrate audit culture and export its norms as well as an increasingly inward-looking propensity of Anglo-American academic circles to the rest of the world.los rankings universitarios mundiales y su popularidad mundial presentan una serie de impactos de largo alcance para la Investigación Local. Este artículo utiliza un enfoque multidimensional para analizar la amenaza del régimen de clasificación para la inviestigación local y la construcción del conocimiento a través de un estudio de las universidades de investigación japoneses. En primer lugar, se examinan las condiciones locales que han llevado a la perpetuación de los rankings de universidades del mundo. A continuación, el uso de indicadores bibliométricos en la evaluación del desempeño, una consecuencia importante de la popularización de los rankings de universidades del mundo, se comprueba frente a dos factores predominantes en el mundo académico japonés: el carácter bipolar de la edición universitaria y la auditoría centrada en la institución. A pesar de un gran nivel de idealismo, la búsqueda de mejorar posiciones en la clasificación puede caer por debajo de las necesidades reales de mejorar el rendimiento individual en la búsqueda de la investigación relevante a nivel mundial y garantizar la equidad entre las diferentes generaciones de estudiosos. El estudio también señala la precariedad de la investigación a nivel local, ya que la clasificación celebra la cultura de auditoría y exportan sus normas , así como una tendencia cada vez más auto-centrada de los círculos académicos angloamericanos que ignoran el resto del mundo.rankings universitarios mundiais e a sua popularidade no mundo inteiro apresentam uma série de impactos de longo alcance para a Pesquisa Local. Este artigo utiliza uma abordagem multidimensional para analisar o esquema de classificação ameaça para a aprendizagem local e construção do conhecimento através de um estudo de universidades de pesquisa japoneses. Em primeiro lugar, são discutidas as condições locais que levaram para a perpetuação do ranking mundial de universidades. Em seguida, o uso de indicadores bibliométricos na avaliação de desempenho, uma importante conseqüência da popularização dos rankings de universidades do mundo, é testado contra dois fatores predominantes no mundo acadêmico japonês : a natureza bipolar da publicação universidade e auditoria centrada na instituição. Apesar de um alto nível de idealismo , buscando melhorar o ranking pode cair abaixo as reais necessidades de melhorar o desempenho individual na busca de pesquisas relevantes em todo o mundo e assegurar a equidade entre as diferentes gerações de estudiosos . O estudo também destaca a precariedade da investigação local, uma vez que a classificação celebra a cultura de auditoria e exportar suas normas, bem como uma tendência cada vez mais acadêmicos egocêntricos anglo-americanos que ignoram o resto do mundo

THE IMPACT OF INSTITUTIONAL COMPLEXITY ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ENGLISH-MEDIUM INSTRUCTION (EMI) REFORM CONCEPT IN THREE NORTHERN EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES

This study examines university English-medium Instruction (EMI) reform implementation approaches from a comparative organizational perspective. Over the last decade, the number of master’s degree programs instructed exclusively in English in non-Anglophone Europe increased dramatically. Europe is an interesting case as it actively promotes multilingual learning; however, many European policies over the last twenty years accelerated the rise of monolingual EMI reforms, especially at the graduate-level. The purpose of this exploratory study is to contribute to our understanding of how widespread EMI reforms impact structures and behaviors at the organizational level in European universities in ways that respond to the organization’s embedded policy contexts. This research aims to advance our understandings of comparative EMI reforms and also, drawing on the concepts of neoinstitutional theory, develop our knowledge of how these processes might be theorized and expanded. I combine the theoretical frames of translation and institutional logics to analyze empirical case studies of the implementation of the EMI reform concept in three Northern European universities in leading EMI provider countries: the University of Oslo in Norway, the University of Göttingen in Germany, and Maastricht University in the Netherlands. The theoretical concept of institutional complexity is used to analyze the contending tensions universities confront when deciding the best way to design and implement EMI reforms. The three-axis comparative framework developed in this study represents a novel approach to examining variations in EMI reform implementation. Variations in organizational EMI implementation approaches (collegial, targeted, and market) are understood by analyzing comparatively how the three universities interpreted axial tensions between institutional logics for the best way to organize their EMI reform approaches: for academic or economic purposes; cooperative or competitive purposes; and local or global purposes. This comparative case study underscores the importance of examining a university’s embedded environment (both European and local levels) to understand university response to widespread EMI reform trends and highlights the significance of contextual dynamics to European EMI program development policy. The study concludes with policy recommendations and future directions

Latin American and Caribbean Countries in the Global Quest for World Class Academic Recognition: An Analysis of Publications in Scopus and the Science Citation Index between 1990 and 2010

The article investigates global participation in academic research productivity through the growth of publications from Latin America and the Caribbean (LA&amp;C) in two of the most prestigious bibliographic indexes, Scopus and the Science Citation Index (SCI). Data were obtained from the SCImago Journal and Country Rank and the Iberian-American and Inter-American Network of Science and Technology Indicators databases. Tables were created for the number of citable documents in Scopus, the publications in SCI, and the comparative indicators of the number of publications in SCI from LA&amp;C countries adjusted for number of researchers, full-time researchers, inhabitants, and national research and development (R&amp;D) expenditure. The countries with the highest number of publications since 1990 SCI and 1996 Scopus were Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Chile. Colombia shows the largest growth in research productivity over the periods studied and became in 2010 the country with the fifth highest number of publications in both indexes. Comparative indicators adjusted for numbers of researchers, population and national R&amp;D expenditures do not show clear differences in performance across countries. The article concludes with suggestions for the need to provide greater contextual analysis and including other bibliographic indexes and databases in order to have a fuller understanding of the reasons for particular levels of research productivity across LA&amp;C countries.</jats:p

الجامعات المصرية في إطار مجتمع المعرفة وتحسين ترتيبها في التصنيفات العالمية للجامعات

The aim of the current research was to identify the most prominent World Rankings, explaining the criteria and indicators on which each ranking is based, and to clarify the role of universities in the knowledge society, and the relation of this society to World Rankings; in order to improve universities rankings in light of the knowledge society. To this aim, the descriptive method was adopted in this research. The research covered the most important World University Rankings: the Shanghai, Webometrics, QS and Times due to their spread and reputation in the international academic community, presenting their criteria and indicators. The research tackled also the role of universities in the knowledge society and its relationship to the World Rankings. Finally, the research addressed how to improve the university rankings in three axes: human resources, scientific research and information and communication technology. Human resources, which represent faculty members and researchers, can improve the ranking of universities through preparing faculty members and researchers at the educational, research and experimental level, and rehabilitating and developing their language, technical and academic skills. As for scientific research, universities ranking can be improved through encouraging international publication in specialized scientific journals, establishing specialized research centers and promoting interdisciplinary research; which creates an innovative and creative environment conducive to excellence. With regard to information technology, universities ranking can be improved through the management of electronic references and information, modernization of electronic portals of universities, and building digital content of the courses and transforming them into interactive electronic courses.هدف البحث إلى تعرف أبرز التصنيفات العالمية؛ موضحاً المعايير والمؤشرات التي يتم على أساسها بناء وتقييم كل تصنيف، وتوضيح دور الجامعات في مجتمع المعرفة، وعلاقة هذا المجتمع بالتصنيفات العالمية للجامعات؛ وذلك لتحسين ترتيبها في التصنيفات العالمية للجامعات على ضوء مجتمع المعرفة، في سبيل ذلك استخدم البحث المنهج الوصفي. تناول البحث أبرز التصنيفات العالمية للجامعات وهي: تصنيف شنغهاي، والويبومتركس، والكيو أس، وتايمز؛ وذلك لانتشارها في الأوساط الأكاديمية العالمية. وعرض المعايير والمؤشرات التي تعتمد عليها في عملية التقييم، كما تناول دور الجامعات في إطار مجتمع المعرفة، وعلاقة هذا المجتمع بالتصنيفات العالمية للجامعات. أخيراً تناول كيفية تحسين ترتيب الجامعات في التصنيفات العالمية في المحاور الثلاث وهي: محور الموارد البشرية والذي يتمثل في أعضاء هيئة التدريس والباحثين من خلال إعداهم على المستوى التربوي والبحثي والتجريبي، وتأهيلهم وتنمية مهاراتهم اللغوية والتقنية والأكاديمية، ومحور البحث العلمي من خلال تشجيع النشر الدولي في المجلات العلمية المتخصصة محلياً وعالمياً، وبناء مراكز البحوث المتخصصة، وتشجيع البحوث المشتركة بين الأقسام؛ والتي تخلق بيئة إبداعية وابتكارية تساعد على التميز، ومحور تكنولوجيا المعلومات من خلال إدارة المراجع والمعلومات الالكترونية، وتحديث البوابات الالكترونية للجامعات، وبناء المحتوى الرقمي للمقررات الدراسية وتحويلها لمقررات الكترونية تفاعلية

The use of Audience Response Systems in the Faculty of Economics and Business: an case of study

We have investigated the effectiveness of clickers as a support tool of the learning process of economics in higher education, specifically on the subject of Principle of Economics. We assessed whether support teaching with the use of Audience Response Systems (ARSs) increase the probability that the student passes the examination in both its theoretical and practical. We propose a mixed methodology, a bivariate probit model framed by statistical causal inference, which provides robust results. We have found strong statistical evidence, that the ARSs offer outstanding support to teaching, although with constraints. First focuses on the aforementioned theoretical and secondly, the help offered by the students ARSs is clearly a function of the frequency of use thereof cited by students

Twitter killed the media star: a historical evolution of marketing communication used by Spanish universities

Purpose – In recent decades, higher education institutions (HEIs) have increasingly adopted marketing-oriented approaches. While the adoption of marketing was slower in Europe and Spain, it has become a vital tool for HEIs, both to stay competitive in a changing socio-economic context and to face the challenges posed by the transition to the University 2.0 model. This study aims to analyse the historical evolution of communication techniques used by universities, bringing into focus the relevance of social networks in the most recent decades. Design/methodology/approach – This research methodology consists of two components. Firstly, a comprehensive analysis of the available data is conducted to investigate the earliest marketing and communication actions involving universities, as well as their evolution over time, contextualizing this within the significant shifts in the social, political and technological background. Secondly, a specific focus is placed on the contribution of social media, particularly Twitter, as a powerful tool in creating a university brand and effectively promoting educational institutions, especially during the last stage of this historical evolution. To identify and analyse these trends, Natural Language Processing is used, specifically by leveraging topic modelling techniques. Findings – The results of this analysis offer insights into the evolution of marketing communication applied by Spanish universities and show the increasing importance of social networks and the use of specific topics and contents to enhance their impact on engagement. Originality/value – This study contributes to the literature by using a novel methodological approach to the research on the historical development of communication in universities in Spain, providing guidance to manage their social media strategy to differentiate themselves, increase engagement and foster brand loyalty

ESSAYS ON MARKET-BASED MECHANISMS IN HIGHER EDUCATION: CHALLENGES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES

In many European countries, a change from a public university model towards more responsible and procedurally autonomous organizations took place. The shift includes a strong emphasis on market, competition and related elements, like incentive steering, managerial capabilities, individual profiling and organizational learning, quality assurance and evaluation. These recent higher education reforms have often been described as managerial reforms, which have moved the universities’ governance regime towards a much more competition-driven and managerial arrangement. Yet, universities provide public services for which at least in most of the European countries no real market exists and their primary funding comes from public resources, hence these tendencies towards market and competition result at most in quasi-markets. The introduction of quasi-market mechanisms led government to implement different policies to address these changes. They focused among others on three distinctive aspects: the cost sharing of higher education and the shift toward student tuition; the performance-based research funding mechanisms; the promotion of interaction with industry and the raise of academic entrepreneurship This dissertation aims to investigate the main implications of the application of market-based policies to higher education, in terms of university managerial reactions. In relation to the diffusion of the cost sharing phenomenon, some universities decided not to modify their tuition price setting strategy, some have indiscriminately increased tuition fees, while others targeted for their recruitment strategy ‘full fee paying’ students more aggressively within the global higher education marketplace. Accordingly, the first essay of my dissertation investigates the dynamics of university competition on price setting decision after the 2008 financial crisis by relying on data from 59 Italian state universities over the period 2003-2014. Italy represents an interesting setting where to investigate the post-crisis dynamics of university competition as an example of both a Southern European country strongly affected by the economic recession as well as cuts in public funds and a quasi-market where universities increasingly compete for attracting students. Concerning the establishment of performance-based research funding mechanisms, universities adopted the strategy to position themselves at the top of the international rankings, as outstanding research institutions. The second essay of my dissertation investigates the issue of international competition and visibility. It provides an analysis of the impact of a specified policy intervention aimed to promote and select outstanding research active universities by allocating competitive additional public funds: the Excellence Initiative in Germany. Referring to the promotion of interaction with industry and the raise of academic entrepreneurship, universities became fully engaged in the spinoff activity. The third essay of my dissertation aims to contribute to the literature on the drivers of this kind of firms, by focusing on a specific university feature, the degree of internationalization. Academic spinoffs indeed are found to be more prone to internationalize than similar firms due to the essential role played by universities and in particular internationalized universities in offering networks and capabilities as well as dynamic and mobile human capital. University internationalization in this way contribute to the national economic growth by stimulating the international orientation of their affiliated firms. As a whole, this thesis provides some insights into the main challenges that universities are experiencing in terms of marketization of Higher Education and their consequent managerial reactions. Hence, it discusses such reactions extensively, it outlines some theoretical and practical contributions and derives some policy implications

Towards language-friendly higher education: language policy development at the University of Aveiro, Portugal

It is clear that language-friendly and language-skilled higher education institutions are essential if an internationalisation is to be achieved which promotes the well-being of the academic community as a whole and the inclusion and success of all students. However, this premise poses many challenges for institutions, particularly those which are not located in the mainstream of the Anglophone higher education sphere. In such contexts, an internationalisation strategy which relies on the adoption of English as the medium of instruction and research is not sufficient to meet local and international demands. Adding to a growing body of research carried out in a wide range of higher education contexts, this article explores the importance attributed to internationalisation and language strategies by the University of Aveiro in its institutional policy documents in the period 2010 – 2018. It finds that languages are an important consideration in the institution’s internationalisation strategy which seeks a balance between two linguas francas, Portuguese and English, and recognises the contribution of languages to institutional life and graduate profiles. Keywords: higher education institutions; internationalisation; globalisation; language policy; inclusion and well-being

Universities Under Pressure: the Impact of International University Rankings

p. 181-193En este trabajo se sintetizan las características de los rankings de las universidades que causan presión o “acoso” sobre las mismas y se analizan las posibles estrategias de acción que pueden llevarse a cabo en el contexto real de los tres principales rankings de universidades (QS, THE, ARWU), sugiriendo las consecuencias para las llamadas “universidades de clase mundial” y el resto (que representan el 95% de ellas). Aunque existe una controversia sobre los criterios de los sistemas de clasificación de universidades, muchas están estableciendo estrategias destinadas a adaptarse a estos criterios e indicadores y a mejorar sus posiciones. Este estudio concluye que los rankings internacionales de universidades no deberían ser una fuente de información muy relevante para considerar la calidad de las universidades, ya que esto puede tener un impacto negativo en el desarrollo de las políticas a medio y largo plazo en la Educación Superior y en ellas mismas. Las universidades deben concentrarse en su misión y deben proporcionar información válida y fiable a todos los interesados sobre el nivel de consecución de sus objetivos.S