Inflatable Australian Universities

Professor Simon Marginson of the University of Melbourne has made some very appropriate comments to The Age about the THES - QS rankings and Australian universities.

Professor Marginson told The Age that a lack of transparency in the rankings method means that universities could be damaged through no fault of their own.

'"Up to now, we in Australian universities have done better out of the Times rankings than our performance on other indicators would suggest," he said. "But it could all turn around and start working against us, too."
The Times rankings are volatile because surveys of employers and academics are open to manipulation, subjectivity and reward marketing over research, Professor Marginson said.'

The admitted extraordinarily low response rate to the THES - QS "peer review" combined with the overrepresentation of Australian "research-active academics"among the respondents are sufficient to confirm Professor's Marginsons remarks about the rankings.