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on Sociology of Economics |
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Issue of 2009‒08‒22
three papers chosen by Jonas Holmström Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration |
| By: | Jean-Charles Billaut (LI - EA 2101 - Laboratoire d'Informatique - Université François Rabelais - Tours - Polytech'Tours); Denis Bouyssou (LAMSADE - Laboratoire d'analyse et modélisation de systèmes pour l'aide à la décision - CNRS : UMR7024 - Université Paris Dauphine - Paris IX); Philippe Vincke (CODE - CODE - Université Libre de Bruxelles) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes a critical analysis of the "Academic Ranking of World Universities", published every year by the Institute of Higher Education of the Jiao Tong University in Shanghai and more commonly known as the Shanghai ranking. After having recalled how the ranking is built, we first discuss the relevance of the criteria and then analyze the proposed aggregation method. Our analysis uses tools and concepts from Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM). Our main conclusions are that the criteria that are used are not relevant, that the aggregation methodology is plagued by a number of major problems and that the whole exercise suffers from an insufficient attention paid to fundamental structuring issues. Hence, our view is that the Shanghai ranking, in spite of the media coverage it receives, does not qualify as a useful and pertinent tool to discuss the "quality" of academic institutions, let alone to guide the choice of students and family or to promote reforms of higher education systems. We outline the type of work that should be undertaken to oer sound alternatives to the Shanghai ranking. |
| Keywords: | Shanghai ranking; multiple criteria decision analysis; evaluation models; higher education. |
| Date: | 2009–05–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00388319_v2&r=sog |
| By: | Schneider, Andrea (Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg) |
| Abstract: | Post-docs signal their ability to do science and teaching to get a tenure giving universities the possibility of separating highly talented agents from the low talented ones. However separating that means signalling effort for the highly talented becomes even more important in a two-dimensional signalling case. This attracts notice to time constraints. Under weak conditions separating equilibria do not exist if time constraints are binding. The existing equilibria are more costly but without additional information compared to the one-dimensional case. Considering this, the efficiency of the current two-dimensional academic job market signalling can be improved by switching to a one-dimensional one. |
| Keywords: | Multi-dimensional signalling; Academic job market; Teaching and Research |
| JEL: | D82 I23 J41 |
| Date: | 2009–08–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:vhsuwp:2009_095&r=sog |
| By: | Aïcha Serghini Idrissi (Centre Emile Bernheim, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels.); Patricia Garcia-Prieto (Centre Emile Bernheim, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels.) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we argue that Leading Academic Performance (LAP) expectations in universities are gendered, hindering female academic leadership. Integrating concepts from social identity theory of leadership, prototypicality, and social identity performance we describe how evaluations of female academic performance are shaped by gender social identity negatively affecting the career advancement of female faculty. We then illustrate how female academics can perform their academic and/or female social identities in order to be considered as leading academic performers. |
| Date: | 2009–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:09-030&r=sog |