Many IITs disapprove of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
IITs in Mumbai, Delhi, Kanpur, Madras, Roorkee, and Kharagpur are boycotting the Times Higher Education THE Ranking in favour of a more “transparent” process. “They directly assign a rank to a University. We should be aware of the procedure, “The Indian Express was informed by the Indian institute of technology Bombay director. Even though several IITs boycotted it for a third year in a row, raising questions about its standards and openness, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) rose in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023 and was the only Indian university to make the top 300 list.
In 2023, 75 Indian institutions were included in the rankings, compared to 56 in 2020 and only 31 in 2017. Higher education institutions like Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Benaras Hindu University, and Aligarh Muslim University that were ranked lower in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) and QS World University Rankings 2023 have jumped ahead of them in the Times Rankings, raising more concerns about the methodology and transparency of the rankings.
With 75 ranked universities, India is the sixth most represented nation in the 2023 rankings. Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences, which is placed 351-400, is the highest-ranked of the six Indian universities that have just entered the rankings this year. The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati is back this year in the 1001–1200 band after last appearing in the 2020 edition.
India’s policymakers have completely embraced the imperative necessity for the country to join the global knowledge economy network and to make sure that the country’s universities compete with, collaborate with, and measure themselves against the very finest universities in the world.
The improvement of training in high-level skills and the facilitation of new knowledge production and innovation will be essential for India to reach its full potential as the largest democracy in the world and the key to unleashing the full economic power of India’s enormous youth population. And the facts demonstrate that the approach is effective and bringing about genuine change, according to Times Higher Education Chief Knowledge Officer Phil Baty. The top technical institutions have been absent from the Times Higher Education rankings since 2000, despite the fact that the Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Science (IISc), IITs, NITs, and universities like JNU, Jamia, or Delhi University consistently place first among Indian institutions in the majority of global as well as national rankings.
The departure of seven Indian institute of technologies from the World University Rankings in 2020—Bombay, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras, and Roorkee, raised questions about the rankings’ integrity and criteria. This year’s list will not include the seven IITs. If Times Higher Education can persuade them about the criteria and transparency of their ranking procedure, they would reevaluate their choice the following year, the institutes had previously stated in a joint statement.
This year, Indian institute of technology-Guwahati re-entered the rankings. Indian institute of technology-Indore, JNU, and AMU are ranked lower in this year’s THE rankings for Indian institutions than organisations that have received much lower ranks in NIRF rankings.
For the seventh year running, the University of Oxford continues to lead the world rankings. A record 1,799 universities from 104 nations and regions are ranked, which is an increase of 137 over the previous year. A peak of 43 US colleges were included in the top 100 in 2018, but this year that number has dropped to only 34.
The directors of IIT Bombay and Delhi told this publication that they will continue to avoid the rankings because THE hasn’t fixed issues with the criteria used for evaluation. Director of IIT Bombay Subhasis Chaudhury stated, “Their procedure is still not more transparent. A rank is immediately assigned to the institute. We ought to be aware of the procedure. Without knowing what we are involved in specifically, there is no need to join. Rangan Bannerjee, the director of IIT Delhi, concurred with Chaudhury. Because of the past instances of lack of transparency in the process, this is still our position: we will not participate.
The IITs (and other universities) have been involved in discussions with THE on a number of times, and we continue to welcome discussions with them, according to a spokeswoman for THE.
“As said, we have provided a thorough explanation of our rating system and have taken their suggestions into consideration. We have integrated some of their suggestions into the upcoming ranking edition, which will be released early in the following year.
Teaching (30%), research (30%), citations (30%), international orientation (7.5%), and industry outcome (2.5%) are the five criteria used by THE to rank institutions. A “reputational survey” has a 15% weight in both teaching and research. The citation measure used by THE has drawn criticism from the IITs. International collaboration between institutions is common in a number of research endeavours. These research papers receive a lot of citations since they contain numerous authors. An IIT director who wished to remain anonymous previously told a publication that an institution involved in such a research ends up with an unfair advantage over others due to one paper that is widely recognised.
