Meta-ranking to position world universities

Abstract

University rankings have proliferated in recent years and have been diverse, with a variety of profiles. This paper deals with the task of obtaining one single summarized ranking based on a selection of the most widely known rankings, in short, a meta-ranking. Five of the best-known rankings were selected and a database compiled with the major world universities that appear in at least four of the five rankings chosen. A meta-ranking was constructed, which differentiates between two dimensions, identifying the positions of universities in each and checking bias. The positioning of the universities is shown and seven clusters of world universities are identified, differences examined according to size, quality of scientific production, level of internationalization, features of the economic context and institutional attributes (staff-to-student ratio and percentage of female students). These results are useful for benchmarking by universities and national university systems, with a view to planning decisions.