Rankings Bring Asia out of the Shadows

Kevin Downing
Are Asian institutions finally coming out of the shadow cast by their Western counterparts? At the 2010 World Universities Forum in Davos, a theme was China's increasing public investment in higher education at a time when reductions in public funding are being seen in Europe and North America. China is not alone in Asia in increasing public investment in higher education, with similar structured and significant investment evident in Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.
While in many ways this investment is not at all surprising and merely reflects the continued rise of Asia as a centre of global economic power, it nonetheless raises some interesting questions in relation to the potential benefits of rankings for Asian institutions.
Interest in rankings in Asian higher education is undoubtedly high and the introduction of the QS Asian University Rankings in 2009 served to reinforce this. The publication of ranking lists is now greeted with a mixture of trepidation and relief by many university presidents and is often followed by intense questioning from media that are interested to know what lies behind a particular rise or fall on the global or regional stage.
In 2010, universities in Asia did particularly well in terms of their annual rise in the QS World University rankings. For example, mainland China now has six universities in the top 200, Hong Kong five, Taiwan one, Singapore two, Malaysia one, Thailand one, Japan eleven and South Korea four.
Contrast this with the position just one year previously when the figures were mainland China six, Hong Kong four, Taiwan one, Singapore two, Malaysia none, Thailand one, Japan 10 and South Korea three.
In other words, from these South East Asian countries alone another four universities have achieved World top 200 status with the accompanying advantages in terms of global brand exposure.
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Source: University World News, Issue No: 0165, 03 April 2011