US declines in university rankings, China-Saudi gains
The geopolitics of knowledge is changing. The 19th annual report of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, published on October 12, showed that the number of US universities among the top 100 universities in the world has decreased. On the other hand, universities in East Asia and the Middle East, led by China, have risen in the rankings. News from The Print
In 2018, the US accounted for almost half of the 43 universities in the world rankings. But this time only 34 universities of the country have made it to the top 100. Ohio State and Michigan State University in the US have lost their top 100 status
Meanwhile, China had only two of the world's top 100 universities in 2018. This year it has increased to five. In addition, Hong Kong had three universities in the top 100 in 2018, this time there are five Hong Kong universities in that list.
In addition, two South Korean universities have increased to five in the top 100 compared to 2018. And Singapore and Japan have two universities in the top 100.
On the other hand, the universities of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East have also taken the lead. King Abdulaziz University of Saudi Arabia has made it to the top 101. Last year the ranking of this university was 190th. And this year, the University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates has emerged in the top 300 list of the United Arab Emirates University Ranking.
In the 'World University Ranking 2023' published by the UK-based education magazine 'Times Higher Education', this ranking has been made based on the evaluation of the activities of 1,799 universities in 104 countries. Times Higher Education scrutinizes quality on various assessment indicators. The list is based on teaching, research, citations, international outlook and industry income.
Oxford University in the United Kingdom is number one in the Times list as in the last five years. The top five are Harvard University, Cambridge University, Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The Times Higher Education website also has a detailed explanation of the indicators considered in determining the rankings. It is said that the teaching index is given importance in determining the overall quality of the university, i.e. ranking. The second indicator looks at research reputation-surveys of the respective universities, research income and the number and quality of research. Another important indicator is research citations. In this case, the number of times a university's published work is cited by researchers worldwide is taken into consideration.
