The Three University Missions Ranking
The Three University Missions Moscow International University Ranking (shortly known as the Moscow Ranking) is a global ranking of academic universities developed by the Russian Association of Rating Makers, with the participation of the international association IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence. The ranking evaluates the quality of education, scientific work, and also, for the first time in the compilation of global academic rankings, it consistently evaluates the universities' contribution to society. The ranking has been published annually since 2017.
Editor | Dmitry Grishankov |
---|---|
Categories | Higher education |
Frequency | Annual |
Publisher | Association of Rating Makers |
First issue | 2017 |
Country | Russia |
Language | English, Russian |
Website | www |
History
Plans were first announced in 2016 for the development of a new international ranking that would evaluate not only the quality of education and research, but also the level of international cooperation, and the contribution to sustainable development and distance education.[1] The operator of the ranking, the non-profit Association of Rating Makers, was established by the International Group RAEX and leading Russian rating agencies and ranking compilers.[2]
The pilot version of the ranking was published in December 2017.[3] It included 200 universities from 39 countries.[4]
The second issue of the ranking, published in November 2018, included 333 universities from 53 countries. The 2019 table included more than 1200 universities, and the latest one, 1500 universities representing 97 countries and territories.[5] The 2020 ranking table showed some notable changes from 2019, which are attributed to the response of societal impact metrics to the pandemic-induced changes in higher education.[6]
Methodology
Methodology development
The methodology of the ranking system was developedin collaboration with more than 100 organizations – universities, councils of rectors, rating agencies, and expert associations, notably the IREG Observatory on Academic Rankings and Excellence and the Russian Union of Rectors.[7] The Expert Council of the ranking comprises experts in the field of higher education from the Belgium,Brazil, China, India, Iran, Italy, Poland, South Africa, Turkey, USA, UK, and Russia.[8]
Indicators
According to the current version of the methodology, the ranking uses 16 indicators divided into three groups: Education, Research, and University & Society. The total weight of indicators per group is: Education – 45%, Research – 25%, University and Society – 30%.
- Education group criteria
1. Wins in international student contests by the university students.
2. Percentage of international students.
3. University budget to student ratio.
4. Student to academic staff ratio.
- Research group indicators
5. IREG List awards won by university academic staff and alumni
6. Average normalised citation impact (global level)
7. Average normalised citation impact (national level)
8. Research income per academic staff member
- University and Society group criteria
9. University's online courses available on the biggest global platforms
10. University's share in its country's total academic publications
11. Total pages of a university's website indexed by the leading search engines
12. Views of the university's page on Wikipedia
13. University's followers in social media
14. Number of the university's graduates with an individual article on Wikipedia
15. University website reach
16. Transparency
Rankings
The 2017 pilot ranking comprised 200 universities from 39 countries, including 13 Russian universities. The most widely represented nations in the ranking were universities in the United States, the UK, and China, with 41, 18, and 14 universities in the top 200, respectively.[11]
The 2018 ranking includes 333 universities from 53 countries, including 17 Russian universities. In the top 333 of the second issue of the ranking, 61 universities from the USA are represented, followed by the UK (29 universities) and Germany (25 universities).[12]
The 2019 ranking table featured 1200 universities representing 79 countries. [13] The latest ranking issue released in August 2020 listed 1500 higher education institutions from 97 countries. The most represented nations in the 2020 list were United States, China, and Russia, represented by 200, 122, and 101 institutions respectively.
Reaction
The ranking attracted the interest of a number of representatives of the rating community and researchers, who particularly noted the innovativeness of the ranking in terms of its assessment of the interaction between universities and society.
According to the president of the Perspektywy education foundation, Waldemar Siwinski, the ranking "goes beyond traditional ranking criteria, adding some new, more socially oriented elements".[14]
In an interview with the Brazilian publication Folha de S. Paulo, the president of the international association IREG Observatory on Academic Rankings and Excellence, Luiz Claudio Costa, noted that “the new Moscow International University Ranking represents the second generation of academic rankings and <...> poses correct and important questions by its search for indicators to evaluate the quality of teaching and the interaction of the university with society”.[15]
The president of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA, USA), Judith Eaton, called the release of the ranking timely, in view of the growing recognition that the social role of a university is one of its key functions. She views the ranking as an attempt to move away from the elitist approach of evaluating universities, instead paying special attention to the social responsibility of higher education.[16]
An expert on academic rankings from the University of Groningen (The Netherlands), Jules van Rooij, criticized the ranking, noting that, despite a number of "good ideas," "[the compilers] of the ranking measure only what they want to measure" and "quality can't be assessed with simple linear lists".[17]
Jack Grove, columnist for World University Rankings, was also skeptical about the ranking, noting that the exceptional achievements of Russian universities in the ranking had Russian roots.[18]
The ranking was discussed in a number of academic studies[19][20][21][22] along with the leading global university rankings – Times Higher Education, QS, ARWU, etc. An article by Ivančević & Luković (2018) points out that the Moscow International University Ranking is the only global academic ranking considered in their study that covers all “performance dimensions.” Zadorozhnyuk et al. (2018) noted the innovative use of the “University and Society” group criteria in the ranking. In addition to “The Three University Missions” ranking, the assessment of the university's contribution to society is also used by the Washington Monthly College Rankings and THE Impact Rankings.[23]
References
- "New Ranking from Russia - IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence". ireg-observatory.org. November 6, 2016.
- "Ассоциация составителей рейтингов :: Проекты ассоциации".
- "Moscow International Ranking "The Three University Missions" released - IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence". www.ireg-observatory.org. December 11, 2017.
- "First Moscow International University Ranking The Three University Missions Released – Moscow International University Ranking News". December 11, 2017.
- "Russian Three Missions Ranking Published - IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence". ireg-observatory.org. December 2, 2018.
- "Moscow Three University Missions Ranking 2020 - IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence". ireg-observatory.org. August 31, 2020.
- "Moscow International University Ranking Methodology".
- "Seminar on Moscow international "Three University Missions" ranking - IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence". ireg-observatory.org. June 9, 2017.
- "The Three University Missions Ranking passes independent audit – Moscow International University Ranking News". June 5, 2018.
- "THE World University Rankings 2016-2017 passes independent audit". Times Higher Education (THE). May 9, 2016.
- "Ranking 2017 – Moscow International University Ranking".
- "Ranking 2018 – Moscow International University Ranking".
- "MosIUR 2019: Ranking 2019 – Moscow International University Ranking". September 19, 2019.
- "What direction next for university rankings?". University World News. November 18, 2016.
- "Brasileiro assume grupo ligado à Unesco que trata de rankings universitários". June 28, 2018.
- "Moscow Third University Mission Conference - IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence". ireg-observatory.org. December 1, 2018.
- "RUG drops in THE ranking". September 6, 2017.
- "Russian universities excel in Kremlin-backed rankings". Times Higher Education (THE). December 23, 2017.
- Ivančević, V., &Luković, I. (2018). National university rankings based on open data: A case study from Serbia. Procedia Computer Science, 126, 1516-1525.
- Гайсёнак, В. А., Наумовіч, В. А., Самахвал, В. В., & Галынскі, У. М. (2018). Установы вышэйшай адукацыі Беларусі ў сусветных навукова-адукацыйных рэйтынгах: вынікі 2018 года.
- Гайсенок, В. А., Наумович, О. А., & Самохвал, В. В. (2018). Корреляционные связи позиций вузов в международных рейтингах. Высшее образование в России, (12).
- Задорожнюк Иван Евдокимович, Калашник Вячеслав Михайлович, Киреев Сергей Васильевич (2018). Московский международный рейтинг вузов в глобальном образовательном пространстве. Высшее образование в России, (6), 31-40.
- Usher, Alex (April 2, 2019). A New Set of International Rankings.