Higher Education Institutions simultaneously critique and participate in national and international rankings of universities. However, this creates a difficult situation since if universities do participate in rankings they acquiesce to a system based in media logics that has little to do with academic norms of research. If they do not participate in the rankings they risk losing public funding, students and donors in an increasingly competitive and globalized environment. This book delves into the influence of journalists, business tycoons and multinational corporations in defining what world class is and how it will be measured. Rankings provide us with a rich study for understanding how universities define, deploy and manage their assets and liabilities in a mediatized globalized economy.

Gathering unique and thoughtful contributions from leading international scholars, this timely Research Handbook offers diverse perspectives on university rankings twenty years after the first global rankings emerged. It presents an in-depth analysis that reflects the current state of research on rankings, their influence and impact.

The growing impact of university rankings on public policy and on students choices has stirred controversy worldwide. This unique volume brings together the architects of university rankings and their critics to debate the uses and misuses of existing rankings. With voices from five continents, it provides a comprehensive overview of current thinking on the subject and sets out alternative approaches and complementary tools for a new era of transparent and informed use of higher education ranking tables.

This volume contains an Open Access Chapter. This volume explores the distinct allure of rankings in diverse empirical settings such as healthcare, the IT sector, the arts, professional sports, anti-slavery advocacy, the pharma industry, and educational governance.

The reflection on university management is based on the question about the shape of universities of the future. Civic, responsible, sustainable, virtual, digital, and many other universities can be mentioned among the concepts present in the literature. All these names describe an important distinctive feature of a university, which will gain more and more importance in the future. However, given the fundamental importance of the radical change taking place, it seems that the most appropriate name, reflecting the essence of the emerging new formation, is "digital university." This is because of the importance of digital transformation, which has been developing for several decades, bringing deep and multidirectional changes in the areas of technology, economy, society, and culture. It is a disruptive civilizational transition and, although stretched over many decades, it is revolutionary in nature, significantly changing our lives in the Anthropocene. The book has three cognitive and pragmatic objectives: to provide a new perspective on the changing academic organization and management; to reflect on higher education management concepts and methods; and to present an overview of university management, governance, and leadership, useful from the perspective of academic managers, and other stakeholders. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis. com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

This volume brings together a range of practitioners, managers, and researchers who work within the field of arts higher education to reflect on strategies to increase access and widening participation (WP). The issues presented in this book are situated within a wider global context where countries are seeking greater harmonisation of higher education as students and workers become more mobile, crossing international borders. The chapter authors address various issues within higher education institutions from a WP context, including areas such as creative writing, music, art and design. In exploring these issues the editor and her chapter authors seek to answer how those teaching in arts higher education can promote the value and quality of their work while ensuring fair access and wide participation for all.

Global rankings and the Geopolitics of Higher Education is an examination of the impact and influence that university rankings have had on higher education, policy and public opinion in recent years. Bringing together some of the most informed authorities on this very complex issue, this edited collection of specially commissioned chapters examines the changes affecting higher education and the implications for society and the economy. Split into four interrelated sections, this book covers: The development of rankings in higher education, how they have impacted upon both the production of knowledge and its geography, and their influence in shaping policymaking. Overviews of the significance of rankings for higher education systems in Europe, Asia, Africa, Russia, South America, India and North America. An analysis of rankings in relation to key concerns that pervade contemporary higher education. Examination of the role rankings are likely to play in the future directions for higher education. This is a significant scholarly work that analyses in depth an important development in higher education systems, and which is likely to have an important influence upon how we understand the higher education policy-making process – past, present and future. It provides new analysis and conceptual understanding for researchers, and firm evidence for policy makers to use when addressing the value of rankings in measuring the quality of their institutions. Besides bringing together a powerful cast of academics, this book incorporates contributions from heads of important international higher education organisations – from both those involved in making and also in administering key decisions. This timely, reflective and accessible book forms crucial reading for those studying the subject of rankings, as well as the broader implications and unintended consequences of rankings on national higher education policies. Extending beyond academic researchers and students, this book will also be of significant interest to policymakers, higher education leaders and key stakeholders.