Hong Kong risks falling further behind Singapore and other Asian rivals, if university rankings are dismissed
Not everyone supported university rankings when they started to attract interest in the 1980s, but today, they are an integral part of higher education globally.
Ranking allows us to move beyond the stereotypical Chinese view that in higher education, old means good. It removes self-assumption from the calculation, and moves us towards an objective assessment instead.
We would come to the same conclusion even if standards were loosened, and not confined to the top-100 standard.
Three Hong Kong universities in Asia's top 10 – but Singapore still number 1
Five years ago, only two universities from Asia (both in Japan) were ranked among the top 100 in all three rankings. According to the latest results of these three rankings, that number has risen to five: Peking University, Tsinghua University, the National University of Singapore, the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University.
I contend that the key to their success lies in “soulware”, that is, the basic principles of “integration of teaching and research” and “separation of politics and academics”. In general, “soulware” is badly needed in our community.
Asian universities are climbing the rankings – but are league tables flawed?
Unless Hong Kong rewards strongly performing universities, and invests in learning and research at international standards, I predict that, after falling behind Singapore, we will also lag behind South Korea.
Ultimately, do some people dismiss international rankings because the results fail to align with expectations, and with a mindset dating back to colonial times?
Way Kuo, City University of Hong Kong
