Indian institutions are inching forward in the rankings

The recently released Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings provides some food for thought as to the future of higher education.

Some 1,662 universities have been ranked compared to 1,526 last year. Thus, more institutions are engaging with and entering the rankings, indicating heightened competition on the global stage.

For the first time, THE provides details of institutions that have submitted but not achieved rankings, adding another layer to our understanding of rankings, and pointing to some potential newcomers in the years ahead.

As THE indicates in their summary, the growing role and influence of Asian economies are becoming more apparent.

China has 97 institutions ranked or close to 6% of globally ranked institutions, compared to 91 institutions last year at a similar share. China has two institutions in the top 20 for the first time and is joint fifth in the world in terms of institutions in the top 200 (10 institutions), compared to joint seventh last year.

Japan is still the outright leader in Asia, with 118 ranked institutions, compared to 116 last year. South Korea has moved from 35 to 36 institutions, Malaysia from 15 to 18, Indonesia from nine to 14 and Vietnam from three to five.

Long-term investments in education and training and incentives to attract diaspora academics back are some key reasons for the rise of Asia, especially in the case of China. However, we do note that the United States and the United Kingdom continue to dominate rankings in absolute numbers, and in the composition of the top 200, top 100 and top 10.

India’s position

India presents some interesting findings and challenges. While China has seen six new entrants into the rankings, India has exceeded that with eight new entrants, rising from 63 to 71. India is in third place in Asia for ranked institutions, behind China and Japan.

India’s share of globally ranked institutions has gone from 4.1% to 4.3%, a slight upward movement, but still suggestive of the fact that the country is being carried along in the general tide of increased numbers of ranked institutions globally.

There are considerable challenges and issues facing India. First, India does not have any institutions ranked in the top 300; its best placing is in the 301-350 range – the Indian Institute of Science – as it was last year. Generally, being in the top 200 is considered to be a benchmark for a leading university.

This is a gap which will need to be addressed either through the gradual movement up the ranks of existing institutions or, more unlikely, the sudden surge of a new entrant. Rankings is a long game and it is unlikely that the latter will occur.

Most Indian institutions continue to be at the rear end of the spectrum, suggesting that more institutions are meeting the minimum thresholds, but not much beyond this. For example, 54 Indian institutions out of 71, or 76%, are 801+ in rank, compared to 45 out of 63, or 71%, the previous year.

Thus, in relative terms, India has a higher proportion of institutions in the lower reaches of the rankings this time around compared to last year. Moreover, in absolute terms, the increase is pleasing, perhaps indicating that new policy agendas to promote research and enhance quality, transparency and accountability and autonomy could be moving things in the right direction.

As a recent article in University World News says, five areas are being targeted for reform which may be useful, alongside other factors, in addressing regulatory compliance burdens: education finance; administration; accounting systems; higher education data repository; and internal autonomy.

At the same time, there is evidence that private providers are making headway in the rankings, including in the relatively upper tiers in the Indian context, something which is associated with the liberalisation of the higher education sector. Private providers can give rise to much-needed injections of capital, new perspectives and linkages to industry, although quality standards need to be carefully monitored.

There are four new entrants in the top 10 Indian institutions compared to last year, while six remain in the same position. We note, though, that the top 10 extend from ranks 301-350 to 601-800, which is a wide distribution for the leading institutions, emphasising, arguably, the unevenness in the sector.

The fact of new entrants in the top 10 is possibly a signal of some volatility and change in the sector.

Interestingly, the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian Institutes of Technology, those small leading-edge public sector institutions, have four representatives in the top 10 compared to five in the top 10 last year. Could we be seeing some small steps to other institutions taking over their mantle?

China vs India

Further, comparing India to China by taking the averages of the scores of the top five institutions in each country, we observe some interesting results.

The average scores for teaching, industry income and international outlook for the top five in India are half those of the top five institutions in China, while the average research score is a quarter of China’s top five.

Significantly, the average citation score for the top five Indian institutions is higher than that for the top five Chinese institutions, indicating an enhanced quality mindset and capability among Indian institutions.

This is on the back of the JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, which has a citation score of 100, and the Indian Institute of Technology Ropar, which has a score of 99.7. What is also instructive is the increase in the average citation score for the top five Indian institutions compared to the previous year.

As an aside, the average of the top five for China is lower on all pillars than that of the UK and the US, with the exception of industry income in which China leads, suggesting a strengthening of its industry linkages.

India’s weakest scores among the top five institutions are for research, suggesting that research productivity (as distinct from research quality via citations), reputation (measured by surveys) and research income need improvement; and international outlook, reflecting that India still has somewhat of a closed system.

In short, what is evident is that India is on the rise in terms of ranked institutions and its growing influence in global and Asian education systems can be evidenced in the rankings. It will also be interesting in subsequent years to see how THE and other ranking agencies handle the impact of COVID-19, particularly in terms of the international outlook pillar.

To date, the data used for the rankings largely pre-date the pandemic. It will also be of interest to see how universities develop strategies in the context of potential declines in funding associated with COVID-19 and what implications that has for research priorities.

Dr Anand Kulkarni is associate director of planning, performance and risk at Victoria University, Australia, and author of India and the Knowledge Economy. The views here are the author’s entirely.