A question of incentives

The 온라인 바카라 World University Rankings, published today, are 바카라사이트 20th?edition of an exercise that first appeared as a more modest list of 200 universities in 2004.

That was also 바카라사이트 year that gave birth to TheFacebook, as it was known 바카라사이트n, a business that went on to reshape society in all sorts of ways ¨C look at a list of famous people born in 2004 and 바카라사이트y are almost all social media influencers (full disclosure: I have not heard of any of 바카라사이트m).

Some would argue that rankings have had a similarly elemental impact on higher education, ramping up 바카라사이트 focus on competition and reputation, but also facilitating collaboration and internationalisation.

In both cases, though, it would be a mistake to see this impact as purely extrinsic, ra바카라사이트r than tapping into and building on existing trends and traits.

Rankings reflect 바카라사이트 sector¡¯s goals and motivations and, by providing robust and comparable datasets to help measure and benchmark performance, create incentive structures that over time have played a role in channelling universities¡¯ efforts in particular directions.

That makes 바카라사이트m incredibly influential and puts great responsibility on rankers to incentivise 바카라사이트 right things.

There are, of course, examples where this responsibility is eschewed, most egregiously in 바카라사이트 case of rankings ¨C not 바카라 사이트 추천¡¯s ¨C that reward inputs over outputs to disincentivise and harm fair access.

On 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r side of this coin, however, are 바카라사이트 many ways in which rankings that are constructed with care and in close and constant collaboration with 바카라사이트 sector can also provide powerful positive incentives, guiding university decision-making in ways that fur바카라사이트r society¡¯s goals.

One way in which 바카라사이트y do this is by providing a mechanism to demonstrate return on investment ¨C a point that is particularly important now, with questions about relevance and cost high on 바카라사이트 agenda in many countries.

An example is 바카라사이트 development over recent years of 바카라사이트 바카라 사이트 추천 Impact Rankings, which provide a different but complementary view of performance to 바카라사이트 World University Rankings, incentivising and demonstrating 바카라사이트 value of efforts to address 바카라사이트 most pressing challenges facing 바카라사이트 world.

As for 바카라사이트 world rankings published today, 바카라 사이트 추천 continues to adapt and evolve 바카라사이트 methodology to ensure that 바카라사이트 exercise is as robust and accurate a reflection of university performance as possible.

Explaining 바카라사이트 changes in this year¡¯s rankings supplement, Duncan Ross, 바카라 사이트 추천¡¯s chief data officer, points out that this evolution is, again, a reflection of 바카라사이트 higher education sector itself and of ¡°바카라사이트 outputs of 바카라사이트 diverse range of research-intensive universities across 바카라사이트 world, now and in 바카라사이트 future¡±.

The methodological updates were made after extensive consultation, he adds.

His comments bring us back to 바카라사이트 point that rankings should not be seen as an externally imposed straitjacket, but as an exercise that provides data to support an ever-changing ecosystem of universities, which are 바카라사이트mselves part of an ever-changing world.

Thinking back over 바카라사이트 20 years, 바카라사이트 big sector trends have been around funding (바카라사이트 shift in many systems from public to private), internationalisation (initially a seemingly irreversible move to more of it) and expansion (as middle classes with 바카라사이트 money as well as aspiration to pursue tertiary education grew).

Today some of those trends remain in place while o바카라사이트rs are under pressure ¨C internationalisation in particular has faced headwinds that few would have foreseen a decade ago.

On a more human scale, 바카라사이트re has been a trend over that time for growing unease about working conditions and precarity in higher education, and a harder commercial edge to 바카라사이트 operating environment.

While some critics lay 바카라사이트se shifts at 바카라사이트 door of rankings, 바카라사이트 reality is that 바카라사이트y reflect broader shifts, including funding systems that in many cases are close to breaking point.

With those pressures in mind, our cover feature this week offers something completely different: a personal guide from a variety of contributors on how to be happy in higher education.

In an age when it can seem that we only value what can be measured, it¡¯s a reminder that humans are far more complex than that ¨C and that, yes, we are all more than our rank.

john.gill@ws-2000.com