The Greek Higher Education Institutions in the world rankings Universities, Technical Institutions, Private Structure 2012

Transcription

1 INTERUNIVERSITY HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY NETWORK The Greek Higher Education s in the world rankings Universities, Technical s, Structure 2012 Study 3, 2012 English version P A T R A S

2 Table of Contents Foreword... 3 Part One... 5 Greek universities, institutes of technology and other educational structures in international ranking lists Introduction Webometrics listing: What is it? What does it do? Greek education in webometrics.info ranking Greek universities on webometrics.info Greek institutes of technology on webometrics.info education on webometrics.info Provisional Conclusions Part Two Making sense of the results or constructing a measure of comparison Introduction Greek GNP and the ranking of greek institutions Cost per student and the ranking of greek universities Constructing a comparison: the indicators Constructing a comparison: the analysis Constructing a comparison: paradoxical comparisons Forming a perspective

3 Foreword Whether or not one should concern oneself at all seriously with international ranking lists is a controversial issue. On the one hand, doing so legitimizes a debate which proves to be manifold as far as its scientific adequacy and its seriousness are concerned. On the other hand, to ignore it leaves the field open for political and communicational maneuverings with various objectives. The truth is that a ranking is a catchy journalistic subject which attracts the interest of the public. This observation leads one inevitably to contemplate the reasons for such interest. These reasons can be divided into macro and micro. The former concern international competition to attract foreign students, to the extent to which this translates into a financial stake of growing importance. Beyond the short term financial benefit for the duration of studies, however, the competition between the globe s largest states concerns long term and multilevel interests which have to do with political, financial and cultural influence and prestige. The latter are linked to two needs; One is objective, the need for non-specialists to understand a specialized reality. The ultimate goal is the rapid and effort-free updating of these non-specialists, and the consequent taking of relevant decisions. The other, in the spirit of popular culture, is rather more gossipy, and is promoted by the mass media. For the first, it would be worth examining the extent to which it reflects what can at times be an agonizing question: what should we do? An understandable question. However, as history has demonstrated, it cannot be answered, or at least not with a recipe for action, or an automated response. The next question would have to do with whether a ranking list of all the institutions on a global level would be feasible or not. In other words, if it would be possible to find all those good criteria which would reflect the reality of each institution with credibility. This has yet to be seen. What we do know is that, on the one hand, there do exist at least simplistic rankings which nevertheless enjoy enormous international success, like the Shanghai list, and on the other hand, an attempt is underway to create better and less simplistic rankings, like that of OECD 3

4 ml) or that of the EU ( As far as we are concerned, on the one hand we do not believe it is possible to create a reliable ranking of all institutions. Something like that would mean firstly that all the institutions being compared could be considered homogenous regarding their aims and operation, and secondly that the societies and economies which these institutions address, have the same needs. However, neither of these preconditions holds true. On the other hand, there are signs that in the future more elaborate and complex rankings will make their appearance. Consequently, we will need to learn to live with them so as to be able to respond convincingly to the ensuing communicational and political dialogue with their sweeping assessments of the stakes involved, at the centre of which is the competition to attract foreign students, which reflects political, economic and cultural benefits for the dominant receiving nations. On the basis of the aforementioned, we were driven to the decision to publish this study. Those words were written last year in the first edition of this study. This year (2012) we have in addition the opportunity to make comparisons with the previous result (2011). 4

5 Part One Greek universities, institutes of technology and other educational structures in international ranking lists 1. Introduction The new framework law 4009/2011 for higher education supported the need for its existence and laid the foundations for its legalization not so much in the development and improvement of a satisfactory institution, but in the more generalized discrediting of the greek public university. The argument over the incompetent and corrupt public university has been reproduced and multiplied by the media. As a result the question arises of whether the criticism that the greek public university comes in for is well-founded or not. It should be stressed that the answer to this question is not sought in order to silence the existing problems that the institution faces, or to question the need for changes aimed at its progress and improvement. The value of this inquiry lies in the documentation of the actual performance of greek higher education institutions and in the attempt to find even if it is only at an initial level the causes of the tension which has been created and which continues to exist between Ministry and universities on account of the reasoning behind the substantiation of the necessity for a new law. For this purpose, the ranking of world ranking universities ( will be used for the simple reason that it includes the whole of the respective structures on a worldwide level, a fact which could provide an overall picture of the situation (within the context of the reasoning of a listing). In total, 20,372 institutions appear in this list Webometrics listing: What is it? What does it do? Listings naturally raise questions and problems. This is why the first concern of their users, and more so of those who compose and recommend them, is to show not so much that they do not have weaknesses, but rather that they have fewer weaknesses than others. One of these rankings is the world ranking universities ( which has in recent years been put forward by a team of Spanish researchers at the Cybermetrics laboratory (a research team which belongs to the Spanish centre for scientific research 5

6 CSIS) 1. According to its creators, this listing aims to break new ground in two ways. Firstly, by taking into consideration not only work by researchers-university faculty published in periodicals, but to measure the visibility of the institutions more generally. And secondly, by extending as far as possible the number of institutions to be included in the listing. In order to achieve the first objective, the Spanish researchers turn to the internet because it takes into account the overall picture and performance of the universities while it draws attention to other activities of the professors and researchers. The internet, they claim, covers not only the official publications (e-journals, websites) but also the unofficial academic type activity. In addition, it isn t lacking in quality, it is accessible by the wider public, an important fact especially for young scientists from less economically developed countries. The researchers use four indicators: Size (S). Number of pages recovered from Google (10%) Visibility (V). The number of external links received (inlinks) multiplied by the referring domins for these inlinks, according to Majestic SEO historical data (50%). Rich Files (R). After evaluation of their relevance to academic and publication activities and considering the volume of the different file formats, the following were selected: Adobe Acrobat (.pdf), Adobe PostScript (.ps &.eps), Microsoft Word (.doc &.docx) and Microsoft Powerpoint (.ppt &.pptx). These data were extracted using Google (10%). Scholar (Sc). The data is a combination of items published between 2007 and 2011 included in Google Scholar and the global output ( ) obtained from Scimago SIR (30%) 2. In this way the Spanish researchers extended the number of educational institutions and research centres to be included in their listing significantly. According to the researchers themselves, the number of institutions ranked comes to 20,372 (2012), while in the Shanghai list 3,000 universities are analyzed and 500 ranked. As far as the weight of each factor is concerned, this information appears in Table 1 below. 1 The researchers set out their reasoning in a series of articles. Some examples: 2 The researchers also provide four clarifications in the form of end notes, which concern: 1. Universities with 2 or more basic web domains are mentioned. 2. There is an attempt to minimise institutions individual web domains, 3. Annexes with their own web domain, 4. Special circumstances. More analytically: 6

7 It is clear that compared with other lists, especially that of Shanghai, the recommended ranking is more open as it incorporates texts beyond the conventional periodicals. Nevertheless, even this listing isn t without the usual problems. The four search engines from which it draws its data favour texts in English, and Anglo-Saxon institutions, a fact which in part explains their dominant position in the ranking. This inequality is less true for the sciences and technology where English has become a kind of common language, a fact which makes it easier to compare the biographies without neglecting the institutional and material context of the production of the research work. Things are more complex in the case of the humanities and social sciences which are more closely connected to issues of culture, are aimed largely at a local public and aim to educate public opinion and influence in one way or another the formation of national policies. It is not at all uncommon in this case for texts and works which have had a marked effect on a society to be considered insignificant when the yardstick for their evaluation is references on the aforementioned search engines. Table 1: Weight of each factor Criteria WR (webometrics) s analysed 20,372 s ranked All Criteria ARWU ( Shanghai Ranking) s analysed 1,200 s ranked 500 Criteria Web Size 10% Quality of Education Alumni of an institution winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals Alumni 10% Rich files 10% Quality of Faculty 1. Staff of an institution winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals Scholar 30% (Google) Visibility 50% Award 20% 2. Researchers with high impact 20% Research output 1. Papers published in Nature and Science* N&S 20% 2. Papers indexed in Science Citation Index-expanded and Social Science Citation Index PUB 20% 3. Per Capita Performance Per capita academic performance of an institution PCP 10% 7

8 Leaving these observations aside, let s return to the latest (2012) webometrics ranking. Table 2 gives us a picture of the educational and research institutions around the world. As is to be expected, the dominance of North American (USA and Canada) and in general Anglo- Saxon institutions is clear. In the top 100 it is difficult to find either non western countries or European countries with less robust economies. Table 2: World ranking educational and research institutions 1.2. Greek education in webometrics.info ranking According to the latest edition of webometrics.info (2012), greek institutions present the following picture. Let s begin with the unexpected evidence: education is there, it is evaluated and it is placed in the international rankings. 8

9 In this ranking, there are 64 institutions or structures (13 more than in 2011) of which: 23 are universities, 16 institutes of technology, 20 private structures, 2 military academies, 2 conservatories and 1 other 3. Based on the evidence of Table 1, one can discern that: For the universities A. The first 30 places are occupied by public institutions of tertiary education. B. In the first 15 places there are only public universities. C. Five (5) universities (the Aristotelian University of Thessalonica, Patras, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, The National Technical University of Athens, Crete) are in the top 3% of the world ranking. In fact, the A.U. Thessalonica is in the top 1%. D. A further three (3) universities (Ioannina, Aegean and Democritus) are in the top 5% of the world ranking. E. Another six (6) greek public universities (Thessaly, Athens University of Economics, Crete Polytechnic, Macedonia, Piraeus, and Agricultural) are in the top 10% of the world ranking. F. Between 2011 and 2012, 18 out of the 23 greek public universities improved their placing in the world ranking. In a number of instances in fact, this improvement was impressive. For the institutes of technology 4 A. The top institute of technology in the world ranking is that of Crete (position 2,316). B. Four (4) institutes of technology (Crete, Athens, Thessalonica and Larissa) are amongst the top 10 15% of the world ranking. C. Five (5) more institutes of technology (Kavala, Piraeus, Messolonghi, Kozani and Serres) are placed between 15 and 20%. D. The top two (2) institutes of technology (Crete and Athens) are placed above eight (8) universities. For the institutions A. No private institution is to be found in the top ¼ of the world ranking. 3 The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens medical School is referred to in category 3 of the four observations of the Spanish researchers (previous footnote). 4 The equivalent of Polytechnics. 9

10 B. Only three (3) are to be found between the top ¼ and 1/3 of the world ranking. There follows an analysis of table 1 according to type of institution - universities, institutes of technology and institutions of private education. Table 3: World Ranking Greek s Table 3: World Ranking Greek s (2012) 1 2 Aristotelian University of Thessalonica University of Patras World ranking 2011 World ranking 2012 Placing fluctuation Type/level of institution Absolute % in world ranking University 0, University 1,61 Grouping 3 4 National and Kapodistrian University of Athens University 1,72 National Technical University of Athens University 1,81 0-3% 5 University of Crete University 2, University of Ioannina University 3,59 University of the Aegean University 4,25 Democritus University of Thrace University 4,26 University Thessaly of University 5,11 Athens University of Economics University 5,12 Crete Polytechnic University of Macedonia University of Piraeus University 5, University 6, University 6,77 Agricultural University of Athens University 6,78 3-5% 5-10% 10

11 University of the Peloponnese University 10,87 Crete Institute of Polytechnic 11,37 Athens Institute of Polytechnic 11,43 Greek Open University University 12,57 19 Harokopio University University 12, % Ionian University University 12,94 University of Western Macedonia University 13,65 Thessalonica Institute of Polytechnic 14,49 Larissa Institute of Polytechnic 14,59 Kavala Institute of Polytechnic 15,21 Piraeus Institute of Polytechnic 15,89 Messolonghi Institute of Polytechnic 17,84 Kozani Institute of Polytechnic 18,35 Serres Institute of Polytechnic 19, % 29 Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences University 19,73 30 Patras Institute of Polytechnic 24, % American School of Classical studies at Athens ,54 Epirus Institute of Polytechnic 29, % 11

12 American farm school Thessalonica Alba Graduate Business School Athens Information Athens School of Arts 29,96 31,18 35, Polytechnic 36,20 University of Central Greece University 37,77 Halkida Institute of Polytechnic 37,91 Greek International University University 39,53 Lamia Institute of Polytechnic 39,81 41 Hellenic Army academy Military Academy 41, American College of Greece School of Pedagogical and Technological Education New York College 44, Polytechnic 45, American College of Thessalonica ,90 48,12 Ionian Island Institute of Polytechnic 53,21 Kalamata Institute of Polytechnic 54, City Athens University College Year in Athens IST College χχχ χχχ χχχ 55,52 57,70 58,19 12

13 University of Indianapolis Athens Alpine Centre for hotel and Tourism Management χχχ Athens School of Management χχχ Bca Business Studies Akto Art and Design City College International Faculty of the University of Sheffield Hellenic Academy Naval ICBS Business School χχχ χχχ χχχ χχχ Military Academy 59,99 60,91 61,38 62,67 63,50 66,48 68,34 68,53 State Conservatory of Thessaloniki χχχ Conservatory 68,85 National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Medical school χχχ Hellenic American University χχχ American University of Athens χχχ University structure with idependent server 69,71 71,90 72,06 Conservatoire of Northern Greece χχχ Conservatory 87,29 64 Didacta Educational Group χχχ 93, Greek universities on webometrics.info A more detailed analysis reveals that; A. Some greek public universities are ranked among the world s elite universities. B. The majority (14 out of 23) are among the top 10% in the world ranking. 13

14 C. With the exception of the last three (3), the others are in the top 1/5 of the world ranking. D. Over the last year, the vast majority of the greek public universities (18 out of 23) improved their world placing, often in an impressive manner. Table 3a: World Ranking Greek Public Universities (2012) Position in relation to all Greek universities Ultimate position in relation to all Greek institutions 1 1 Table 3α: World Ranking Greek Public Universities (2012) University A.U. Thessalonica World ranking 2012 World ranking 2011 Placing fluctuation ,78 Absolute % grouping % in world ranking 2 2 University of Patras ,61 National and Kapodistrian 3 3 University of Athens ,72 0-3% 4 4 National Technical University of Athens , University of Crete , University of Ioannina , University of the Aegean , Democritus University of Thrace University of Thessaly Athens University of Economics , , , The Polytechnic of Crete , University of Macedonia ,20 3-5% 5-10% University of Piraeus , Agricultural University of Athens , University of the Peloponnese ,87 The Greek Open University , The Harokopio University of Athens , % Ionian University , The University of Western Macedonia The Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences , , % Athens School of Arts , University of Central Greece , % Greek University International ,53 14

15 Greek institutes of technology on webometrics.info A more detailed analysis of the data reveals that: A. Four (4) Institutes of are between the top 10 and 15% in the world ranking. B. A further five (5) are between the top % in the world ranking. C. In contrast with the universities, the vast majority of institutes of technology (12 out of 16) worsened their placing in the world ranking. The exceptions were the institutes of technology in Crete, Athens, Kavala and Messolonghi. Table 3b: World Ranking Greek Public Institutes of technology (2012) Table 3b: World Ranking Greek Public Institutes of (2012) Position in relation to all Greek universities Ultimate position in relation to all Greek institutions Institutes of Crete Institute of Athens Institute of Thessalonica Institute of Larissa Institute of Kavala Institute of Piraeus Institute of Messolonghi Institute of Kozani Institute of Serres Institute of Patras Institute of Epirus Institute of Halkida Institute of Lamia Institute of Technolgy School of Pedagogical and Technical Education Ionian Islands Institute of Kalamata Institute of World ranking 2012 World ranking 2011 Placing fluctuation , , , , , , , , ,29 Absolute % % in world grouping ranking , % , % , , , , , % 15-20% 35-45% 45-55% 15

16 education on webometrics.info As far as Greek private education is concerned, a more detailed analysis reveals that: 1. It is placed particularly low in the world ranking. 2. Only three (3) of the institutions are to be found between the top ¼ and 1/3 of the world ranking. 3. Of the 20 institutions which appear in the world ranking of 2012 only eight (8) were in the corresponding ranking for However, the top five (5) of those improved their placing 5. Table 3c: World Ranking Education s Position in relation to all Greek universities Ultimate position in relation to all Greek institutions Table 3c: World Ranking Greek s (2012) s The American School of Classical Studies at Athens American Farm School Thessaloniki World ranking 2012 World ranking 2011 Placing fluctuation , ,96 Absolute % grouping % in world ranking 25%-33% Alba Graduate Business School Athens Information American College of Greece , , , New York College , American College of Thessaloniki City University Athens College Year in Athens , χχχ 55, χχχ 57, IST College χχχ 58, University of Indianapolis Athens Alpine Center for Hotel and Tourism Management Athens School of Management Bca Business Studies , χχχ 60, χχχ 61, χχχ 62, Akto Art & Design χχχ 63, City College International Faculty of the University of Sheffield ICBS Business School χχχ 66, χχχ 68, % 45-55% 55-65% 65-75% Hellenic American University American University of Athens Didacta Educational Group χχχ 71, χχχ 72, χχχ 93,10 last 10% 5 The private structure Athens Information and American College of Greece are referred to in note 1 of the four notes of the Spanish researchers. 16

17 1.3. Provisional Conclusions Based on the world ranking data it would appear that neither the mass attack on greek higher education, nor the biting criticism of the media are grounded on sound evidence. By extension, it would not appear that the need for a new law regarding the poor quality of services provided by the public higher education institutions can be substantiated. In fact, based on a comparison of the 2012 world ranking with that of 2011, one notices that the majority of greek universities improved their ranking, and in a number of instances, did so spectacularly. This, on the one hand cannot be down to the new law which has not yet come into force, and on the other hand, it needs to be examined in conjunction with the drastic reduction in state funding over the same period. It should, in other words, be stressed that the observed improvement took place in extremely difficult financial circumstances. Of course, it should be noted that a number of institutions, especially, though not exclusively, institutes of technology, seem to have been affected by the financial difficulties. In other words, the gap appears to be widening between the more dynamic and powerful institutions and the weaker ones. If this is linked to the overall structural problem of the greek education system, the lack of a bottom limit then one can ponder the consequences of the worsening of the performance of the now weakened institutions. Finally, this particular world ranking substantiates the view that there exists a strange relationship between greek society and the legislative framework it functions within. institutions exist, and are beginning to be noticed overseas and are evaluated despite constitutional and other bans. At the base of this evaluation the view that these are low level educational structures is substantiated, and in every case they have a much worse ranking than the public higher education institutions. 17

18 Part Two Making sense of the results or constructing a measure of comparison 2.1. Introduction One could claim that the data so far presented are disappointing for greek institutions to the extent that not one of the institutions is in the top 100, and only one (1) is among the top 300. What then is to be the measure of comparison? In other words, How are we to understand the position of the greek institutions? The question is serious and requires examination. The desire to be first, or at least among the first, to not be satisfied with the best 3 or 5 or 10% in the world, to want to be in the 1% is an indication of a purpose and a desire entirely worthy of respect. However, to move from the desire, to its realization requires strategic planning, and consequently a rational approach to many separate issues. The evaluation of a position within a ranking therefore requires some rational kinds of criteria. What could these be? Let s say that one interesting indicator would be a comparison between the position of an institution and the corresponding position of Greece in terms of its gross national product, to the extent that the University is directly linked to the market, its development and its needs. In other words a ( good ) university does no more than reflect its social context and the needs (or the development) of the economy within the framework of which it operates. A second indicator would be the comparison of the position of an institution with the expenditure per student, to the extent to which this comparison helps us comprehend the quality of the educational provision, as much at the level of infrastructure, as at the level of staff competency. Let s take a look at the data. 18

19 2.2. Greek GNP and the ranking of greek institutions According to international data Greece is to be found: According to the International Monetary Fund (data from 2010) in the 32 nd position globally, out of a total of 183 nations (or, in the top 18% of the world) According to the World Bank (data from 2010) in the 32 nd position globally out of a total of 190 nations (or, in the top 17%) According to the CIA World Fact book (data from 2011) in the 34 th position globally, out of a total of 190 nations (or, in the top 18%) (source: Based on this data, one could advance towards the initial evaluation that greek institutions which are to be found in the top 15 to 20 % of the world ranking institutions reflect the position of the country in the world ranking based on its GNP. In contrast, on the one hand, the institutions which are ranked in the top 15% have achieved a better ranking in relation to the country s ranking, while on the other hand, institutions placed higher than the top 20% have achieved a worse ranking Cost per student and the ranking of greek universities A second reliable indicator for comparison could be cost per student. In a search for data for this index, one discerns that Greece has ceased to send data to the big international organizations. Hence, in the most recent publications of OECD 6 and UNESCO 7 there are no data for Greece. To find data for Greece, one must go back to 2004, to the publications of OECD 8. Based then on the data available for 2004 one discovers that Greece occupies the last place but one (out of a total of 30 countries, with Poland in last place) 9, with 4,843 euro per student (as a whole of tertiary education). The average for OECD countries, according to the particular table was 9,613 euro per student. Consequently, greek funding amounted to 50,4% of the average spending of OECD countries. 6 Regards sur l education 2011 : Les indicateurs de l OCDE, 7 GLOBAL EDUCATION DIGEST 2011 Comparing Education Statistics Across the World 8 OCDE, 2007, Regards sur l Education 2007 les indicateurs de l OCDE, Paris, p In the relevant table three countries do not have data (Canada, Luxembourg and Turkey). 19

20 Of course, one could claim that this ranking concerns the most developed countries of the world and therefore overemphasizes greek under-funding. This is indeed likely; however, if one supports this idea then it is highly irrational to expect any improvement in Greece s position in the world ranking of higher education institutions Constructing a comparison: the indicators So far, the greek situation has been examined as it is portrayed through a series of data. There will follow an attempt to make comparisons. The question once again lies in the issue of what criteria are to be employed for the choice of countries to be compared to Greece. Considering a central criterion to be the development of the economy as this is seen in that country s GNP, we start with that. Hence, we initially isolated three European countries with a slightly greater GNP than Greece, and three with a relatively lower GNP. Let s see which these countries are: Table 4: EU member nations or EU affiliated European countries with GNP comparative to Greece Countries IMF position (2010) World Bank position (2010) CIA position (2011) Norway Austria Denmark Greece Finland Portugal Ireland In the three international rankings presented in table 2, Greece occupies 32 nd place (in the IMF and World Bank rankings) and 34 th place in the CIA ranking. The three European countries nearest to Greece, with a greater GNP are Norway, Austria and Denmark. On the other hand, the three European countries nearest to Greece with a lower GNP are Finland, Portugal and Ireland. 20

21 Based on the evidence in table 5 it appears that all of the European countries with either a comparatively greater or comparatively lower GNP than Greece reveal funding per student which is between 38.41% (Portugal) and % (Norway) greater than the corresponding greek funding. Table 5: Expenditure per student (2004) Countries Expenditure per student Expenditure as % of corresponding greek (2004) expenditure (2004) Norway 12, ,16 Austria 12, ,35 Denmark 13, ,25 Greece 4, ,00 Finland 10, ,60 Portugal 6, ,41 Ireland 8, , Constructing a comparison: the analysis Based on the data, one can now form a substantiated comparison between, on the one hand, Greece, and, on the other, the nearest European countries (3 with a greater GNP, 3 with a smaller GNP). Table 6: World ranking of institutions from European countries with GNP close to the greek GNP Table 6b: World ranking of institutions from European countries with GNP close to the Greek GNP Countries Total Top 1% % of total Top 1- Top 3- Top 5- Total % of total Top 10- Top 15- Top 20- Top 25- Total in % of total number of number of 3% 5% 10% number number of 15% 20% 25% 33% top 1/3 number of institutions institutions in top institutions institutions 10% Norway , , ,2 Austria , , ,3 Denmark , , ,4 Greece , , ,6 Finland , , ,7 Portugal , , ,6 Ireland , , ,9 21

22 Based on the data in table 6, one discovers that: A. In this particular world ranking, the seven (7) countries reveal great diversity in the number of institutions. The fewest universities, 49, are to be found in Finland and Ireland, and the most, 111, are recorded in Portugal. With 64 institutions, Greece occupies 5 th place out of the seven countries. B. In the top 1% of the world ranking, 6 out of the 7 countries have at least one institution. Ireland comprises the exception. C. Austria has the most institutions, three (3). Greece has one (1) institution, as does Finland. D. In the top 10% the data reveal marked variations. In essence, three groupings can be discerned. In the first, are Finland (24.6%), Austria (24.5%) and Greece (24.3%). In other words, these three countries have ¼ of their institutions in the top 10% of the world ranking. In the second grouping one finds Portugal (18.7%) and Ireland (18.4%). In the third are Norway (15.25%) and Denmark with just over 1/10 (11.2%) of its institutions in the top 10% of the world ranking. E. Finally, in the top 1/3 of the world ranking, the differentiation of these particular nations becomes more marked. At the one extreme is Finland, with almost 80% (79.7%) of its institutions in this category, and at the other extreme one finds Denmark, with only ¼ (24.4%) of its institutions. F. Greece (55.6%), together with Norway (62.2%) and Austria (58.3%) are the other three countries which have the majority of their institutions in the top 1/3 of the world ranking. Next and for a fuller analysis, table 6b is presented, which compares the results from 2011 and Table 6b: World ranking of institutions from European countries with GNP close to the greek GNP Countries Top Top Difference Top Top Difference Top Top Difference 1% % % % % % 2012 Norway 3,6 3,0 xxx 10,9 15,2 39,3 45,6 62,2 36,6 Austria 0,0 3,9 xxx 13,6 24,5 79,6 30,3 58,3 92,4 22

23 Denmark 1,7 2,2 xxx 13,3 11,2-16,0 21,7 24,4 12,6 Greece 0,0 1,6 xxx 18,0 24,3 35,0 54,0 55,6 3,0 Finland 2,0 2,0 xxx 18,0 24,6 36,7 48,0 79,7 66,4 Portugal 0,0 1,8 xxx 17,3 18,7 7,9 44,0 38,6-12,3 Ireland 0,0 0,0 xxx 21,6 18,4-14,9 32,4 44,9 38,5 Based on the evidence in table 6b: A. While in 2011 only Norway and Denmark had institutions in the top 1% of the world ranking, in 2012, Austria, Finland, Portugal and Greece were added. B. In the top 10%, two (2) countries, Denmark and Ireland see their percentage drop. In contrast, the other countries increased their percentages from impressively (Austria, 79.6%) to slightly (Portugal, 7.9%). Greece increased its percentage by 35%. C. In the top 33%, with the exception of Portugal, the other countries increased their percentages. At the one extreme, Austria almost doubled the number of institutions in this category (92.4%) and at the other extreme is Greece with 3%. Based on the analysis we put forward, one can claim that greek institutions, and indeed public institutions, are by no means inferior to those of other European countries with GNP similar to the greek GNP. Even better, the public institutions are to be found in a very satisfactory position. Indeed, if these particular results are compared with the economic data in table 5, then one could argue that the greek public institutions achieve this particular ranking despite starting from an extremely difficult economic situation Constructing a comparison: paradoxical comparisons Despite this, the greek institutions, mainly the universities, are under extremely great pressure and face powerful criticism. Therefore, to be able to understand this situation one must, first of all, make a paradoxical comparison. To compare the greek institutions with corresponding institutions in the most powerful countries in Europe and the world. We will now move on to just such a comparison. Greece will be compared with the following countries : the USA, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain. 23

24 Table 7: The major European nations, the USA and Greece, based on their GNP Countries IMF position (2010) World Bank position (2010) CIA position (2011) USA Germany France United Kingdom Italy Spain Greece At the same time, the following table (7b) provides data for expenditure per student for the nations in question. Table 7b: Expenditure per student (2004) Countries Expenditure Expenditure as a % of corresponding greek per student expenditure (2004) (2004) USA 19, ,90 Germany 10, ,14 France 9, ,75 United Kingdom 7, ,22 Italy 6, ,10 Spain 8, ,69 Greece 4, ,00 Based on the evidence in table 7b, all the countries present expenditure per student from 38.10% (Italy) to % (USA) greater than Greece. The following table provides information with the analytical ranking of the higher education institutions of the particular nations. 24

25 Table 8: World ranking of institutions from European countries with GNP close to the Greek GNP Table 8: World ranking of institutions from European countries with GNP close to the Greek GNP Countries Total Top % of Top 1- Top 3- Top 5- Total in % of Top 10-Top 15- Top 20- Top 25- Total in % of number of 1% institutions institutions 3% 5% 10% top 10% institutions 15% 20% 25% 33% top 1/3 institutions USA , , ,4 Germany , , ,8 France , , ,3 United Kingdom , , ,8 Italy , , ,2 Spain , , ,0 Greece , , ,6 Based on the data in table 8: A. The dominance of the USA is evident in the number of institutions (3,277) and in the number of institutions in the top 1% of the world ranking (87 out of a total of 204, or 43%). Despite this though, the proportion of the total number of institutions is not high. In fact, as far as the proportion is concerned, Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy surpass the United States. Finally, it is surprising that no French university is included in this percentage. B. In the top 10% the picture is highly differentiated. Here, the United Kingdom has by far the best place, with 40.7%. In second place is Italy, with 29.4%, while surprisingly Greece is in third place. In contrast the USA is in last place with just 13.3% of its institutions. C. In the top 33%, the situation is again differentiated. While the United Kingdom is first with 66.8% of its institutions, in the next two places are the United States (56.4%) and Greece (55.6%). Consequently, one can see that within the context of this paradoxical comparison, greek institutions and indeed greek public higher education institutions are by no means inferior to those of the major European nations, or the USA. Of course, this comparison does not take into account either the numerical dominance of the American institutions in the world elite institutions (1%), or the marked presence of the United Kingdom s institutions across the whole spectrum of the top 10%. If within what is in any case a borderline comparison, the economic data from table 7b are also included, then one could argue that greek public higher education institutions achieve this particular ranking despite starting economically from a manifestly difficult position. 25

26 Based on the previous data, one wonders why there is so much negative criticism of greek universities? 2.7. Forming a perspective It is clear that the data presented hold surprises. The issue is to understand the data with the objective on the one hand of substantiating different models, and, on the other hand, of forming suitable strategies for greek public institutions. The basic question remains: why is a ranking compiled and what kind of quality is being promoted? There are at least three interpretations: Firstly, if the objective is the promotion of excellence, then the only percentile that has any significance is the top 1%, while the top 20,25 or 33% have no meaning. Hence, for example, the USA, having 87 institutions in the top 204 in the world (the elite 1%), becomes a model and dominant centre of excellence, a fact which is consistent as much with the needs of its economy (first GNP in the world) as it is with the objectives that befit the most powerful nation on the planet. Despite that though, this particular model appears to hide huge internal inequalities. Indeed, based on the data from the ranking, a large number of the many American institutions are ranked low to very low. Secondly, if the objective is not only elitist and the target focuses on the education of a wider elite which goes beyond the national context, then the attestation of the top 10% suddenly has meaning ( to the extent to which globalization can serve the needs of the particular nation). In this case, the USA ceases to be a model, with just 13.3% of its institutions in the top 10% in the world. In contrast, the United Kingdom, with 40% of its institutions in the top 10% appears to be the most credible. In this way, global attention to its higher education system is assured and it is transformed into an interesting pole of attraction for students from all over the planet. Thirdly, for countries with a limited GNP, and hence with limited opportunities for their economies and with comparatively low higher education funding, the issue could be the diffusion of as much existing knowledge as possible and the satisfactory education of a significant part of their population. In this case, inclusion in the top 1/3 of the world ranking could have powerful meaning. In this interpretation, the case of Greece could be worth attention as much for countries with a similar GNP as for the most powerful countries in the world. 26

27 It would be interesting to investigate what would happen if in countries like Greece higher education were to over-perform in relation to the existing operation of its economy and its needs. Two pieces of evidence will be given: Firstly, within the context of ongoing research on the subject of Interdisciplinarity in the university 10, a professor on the postgraduate programme The Science and of Polymers in which the Departments of Material Science, Physics, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering participate, mentions in an interview: They (our students) should have better luck, but there are no companies in Greece, there aren t any most (students) chase nothing post-doc, and even then, after that they finish after a few years.[ ], but from what I ve seen (in industry) most of them are told that they are over-qualified. They have more qualifications than are needed and they want to employ them on a basic salary and stuff like that. Secondly, and as an outcome of the first, what happens next is for Greece to (re)live a wave of foreign emigration on the part of over-qualified young adults 11 which is evident as much from research as it is from the press (especially from the press). Of course from a humanistic, global point of view, the flight in question is not a major problem. On the contrary, from a pragmatist point of view, the great global economies benefit from this flight, since, at no cost to themselves they exploit the investment Greece made in its young generation. Of course, one could claim that this is due to the country s failure to wed the needs of the economy to educational provision. This accusation is not ungrounded. However, it should be admitted too that this failure is also due to the pressure Greece (or countries like Greece) is under through multiple harmonizing or coordinating procedures which are expressed by the systems of one, unified and linear evaluation on either a European level (for example, the Bologna Procedure, the ENQA methodology) or on a global level (for example the world ranking list presented in this work, or the Shanghai list, or the Times list, and so on). In essence, these exemplary interpretations are no more than a sign of what the specialized bibliography tells us: that the concept of quality in higher education is a very relative concept 12. In fact, these writers, in their analysis of the relationship between quality and the models for higher education define four different aspects of the concept of quality: 10 A study of the production processes of scientific-academic knowledge: from monodisciplinarity to the interdisciplinarity of university studies, Karatheodori Programme, University of Patras, ( ). 11 Lambranidis, L., Investing in flight: the drain of scientists from Greece in the age of globalization. 12 Harvey L., Green D. (1993). Defining quality, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 18(1):

28 Quality as excellence, Quality as fitness for purpose, Quality as value for money and Quality as transformation. Consequently, on a strategic level, every country has to choose between two models, with potentially an infinite number of variations in between. At the one extreme, an excellence model and at the other, a systemic approach model. In the first, the reasoning is simply that being first is everything while coming second is worth nothing. Or, to put it differently, weight is given to the creation of and support of institutions-centres of excellence, while the internal cohesion of the higher education system is marginalized, or, worse still, the very existence of the system itself is thrown into doubt and there is talk of (reduced) educational structures. In the second model, the reasoning rests on the assuring of a satisfactory middle level, where there is not a great distance between extreme values, and interventions would concern the whole system and not just particular units. Hence, the political and journalistic rhetoric which suspects both (high participation in excellence, but also a high systemic level) accurately expresses the request. The data however from the rankings and comparisons between crucial dimensions for the assessment of university results, reveal that internationally there is a weakness as far as achieving both objectives at the same time is concerned. Whether one refers to the work of Harvey and Green or to the two different models, the first thing that one should accept is that there is no point in a blanket world listing! There should be at least as many as there are potential categorizations of quality 13. In essence, here once again, and in a way which indicates a historical inconsistency there arises the question of whether global development (and at the level of education) can be placed on a vertical line where at the top we find the more advanced nations, and at the bottom the more slow moving ones. In other words, we come back to the argument of Theodore W. Schultz and his ideas regarding the economic value of education 14. And yet, we were under the impression that the criticism that this theory came in for, from the end of the 60 s and on, had led to its ultimate rejection. Today, however, we see it dominant. The truth is that this theory includes ideas which are linked to particular countries for which it is multiply 13 Without referring to the various paradoxes of ranking lists, such as: a)in essence lists like the Shanghai list do not measure anything other than the size of the institution, b) in these kinds of lists, Anglophone institutions receive privileged treatment (and the English language publications of its members), so consequently what counts is not so much the quality of the institution but the (taken for granted) dominance of the English language, c)an institution with a medical school has de facto a better position than another which does not have a medical school, but rather humanities, for the simple reason that Medicine has a lot of publications, etc. 14 Schultz Th. W., 1972, The economic value of education, ed. Papazisis, Athens. 28

29 profitable. On the other hand, it is clear that this is a theory deeply influenced by social Darwinism. In conclusion, one could ask: but is the reality of greek higher education really so good that no changes are required? The answer has many levels. The nature of the comparison must be defined. In essence this reveals either the non-existence of national choice, or the abandonment of the current model, if one admits that there is some such thing, and the adoption of a new one together with a choice of suitable new criteria Improvement is both desired and perpetual, but is linked to certain prerequisites which are tied up with the economic context It is obvious that the needs for change of the institutions in the top 5 or 10% are different from the needs of those which occupy the last places Finally, the documented statement bottom limit is judged to be of major significance. 29