Universities are specific local entities, and as such are in competition with one another for resources and prestige. The general tone of the literature--which sees universities mainly as specific organizations--is quite negative, with competition leading to destructive market and political forces. The tone is surprising, given the extraordinary…

Higher education institutions increasingly live in environments in which they are subject to evaluation and rankings. We examine the way in which Italian (mostly public) universities adapted to the new landscape created by the official research assessments, which have produced rankings at national level, published in 2013 and 2016. We compare the…

Whereas a growing number of studies evidence that research quality notions and evaluative practices are field- and context-specific, many focus on single evaluative practices or moments. This paper introduces the concept of "quality landscape" to capture dynamics of interrelated quality notions, evaluative moments and practices in a…

In 2015, Willem Halffman and Hans Radder published in "Minerva" a paper, in which they diagnosed that our universities are colonized by "The Wolf of management." Using the example of the reforms afflicting the Polish academic world, I show that this colonization has intensified, and apart from the processes described in the…

A dominant narrative exists that all regional public universities (RPUs) are striving for prestige and, if given the chance, would readily abandon their missions of facilitating educational access for marginalized students and increase admissions selectivity to privilege elite students. As a result of this dominant narrative, RPUs are largely…

The role of rankings in higher education accrediting procedures is examined in this essay. It examines how rankings are integrated, as well as their advantages, drawbacks, and potential applications. Rankings have grown in popularity as instruments for evaluating institutional excellence, offering comparison data, and assisting in decision-making.…

Many American parents, whose dream is to have their kids enrolled in one of the elite American Universities, do not suspect that the realization of this dream will result in the almost guaranteed leftist indoctrination of their children. The dominance of leftist ideology at elite American universities has serious implications not only on the…

For two centuries, academics and their universities have competed for prominence and vied to demonstrate that their institutions are at the center of the scholarly world. Scientific advances in particular fields, reciprocal academic visits and conferences, impressive physical architecture, and publishing in shared venues and a "lingua…

This article reviews the history of world university rankings and their large-scale impact. It then analyzes some of the criticism of the world ranking systems before exploring their impact in the context of Thai universities. The authors' assertions centre on the premise that much of the criticism of these ranking systems can be divided into…

Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between the determinants of student loyalty, i.e. service quality, e-service quality and university image in open and distance learning (ODL) based on the theory of reasoned action, in more systematic approach. This study also examines university's image role as a mediator on the…

Since 1990 there has been remarkable growth and diversification of worldwide capacity and output in science, and a distinctive global science system has emerged, primarily grounded in research universities, fostered by Internet-mediated communication and publication in English, cross-border authorship and researcher mobility. While global science…

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the impact of green image on student loyalty and to present a conceptual framework aimed at retaining current students and attracting new ones in higher education. Design/methodology/approach: After review of prior studies using green image to predict customer loyalty in non-higher education industries and…

Over the past decade, universities in the People's Republic of China have notably progressed in international rankings. Most of the existing literature interested in this development describes the adoption of university rankings in China as a recent import of a global institution, and as being driven by a governmental agenda that seeks to bolster…

This essay explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the position of British universities in league tables. We argue that the pandemic has increased the inequalities between them. Through the analysis of the three core functions of universities -- internationalization, research, and teaching, we predict that the gap between top-tier and…

To ensure the widespread dissemination of information and to foster interaction and dialogue with users, higher education institutions need to develop an active profile on the social networks. This paper analyses the influence of universities' posting strategy on their followers' engagement (reaction, virality and conversation) by measuring the…