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Internationale Hochschulrankings

Ein methodenkritischer Vergleich

International University Rankings

A Critical Review of the Methodology

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Zusammenfassung

Trotz ihrer umstrittenen Validität, Zuverlässigkeit und Wirkung, werden internationale Universitätsrankings immer häufiger von Studierenden und Universitäten als Informationsquellen genutzt. Dieser Artikel vergleicht drei internationale Hochschulrankings und analysiert, basierend auf der wissenschaftlichen Literatur, inwiefern sie relevante Aspekte von Forschung oder Lehre erheben und diese adäquat und verlässlich messen. Untersucht wurden das Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU Ranking), das World University Ranking und das vom deutschen Centrum für Hochschulentwicklung (CHE) entwickelte Excellence Ranking für Master- und Doktorandenprogramme. Die Analyse basiert auf den Publikationen der Herausgeber der Rankings und auf wissenschaftlichen Artikeln über diese internationalen Rankings. Basierend auf der Analyse werden Schlussfolgerungen für die Gestaltung internationaler Rankings abgeleitet und weiterführende Forschungsfragen formuliert.

Abstract

Despite disagreement about their validity, reliability and effects, international rankings of universities have become widely used by students and higher education institutions. This article compares three international rankings of universities and analyzes, based on the academic literature, the extent to which they assess relevant aspects of teaching and research and whether these aspects are measured adequately. We study the Academic Ranking of World Universities published by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the World University Ranking published by the British magazine Times Higher Education Supplement and the Excellence Ranking published by the German Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE). The analysis is based on the academic literature about these international rankings and the publications by the rankings’ publishers. We draw conclusions about the design of rankings and develop further research questions.

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Notes

  1. Die Literaturdatenbank Web of Knowledge von Thomson Reuters umfasst unter anderem die Datenbanken Web of Science, Journal Citation Reports und Highly Cited Researchers.

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Correspondence to Anna Kroth or H. -D. Daniel.

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Kroth, A., Daniel, HD. Internationale Hochschulrankings. ZfE 11, 542–558 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11618-008-0052-0

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