Rankings, Diversity, and Excellence: A European Policy Challenge?

In International Higher Education, Ellen Hazelkorn takes a global look at international rankings of higher education institutions.

Worldwide higher education rankings, of which the Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities is now a leading example, have highlighted research intensity as the defining characteristic of higher education. Around the world, governments and higher education institutions are responding, and these developments are forcing changes in higher education systems. This trend is especially true in Europe where efforts to establish the European Higher Education Area and the European Research Area are challenging traditional assumptions about higher education systems and the balance between equity, diversity, and excellence.

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The details in each country vary but do represent a growing urgency to reform Europe's higher education institutions for competitiveness, while acknowledging that traditional universities can no longer meet all the geopolitical demands for research, development, and innovation. As part of this process, the European Commission is funding the development of a European "Carnegie Classification" with emphasis on broadening both horizontal and vertical differentiation.