Andres Oppenheimer
May 16, 2011
Angered that major international rankings of the world's best universities don't list any Latin American institution among their top 100 schools, several countries in the region have come up with a bizarre solution: create a regional index that will exclude the rest of the world.
Indeed, a
Is this a good idea? Or will it only help Latin American governments avoid the embarrassment of performing poorly in international indexes, and will further isolate the region from the world scientific community?
THREE RANKINGS
Before we go to that, let's go to the facts. There are three major rankings of the world's best universities, done respectively in
- The
-
-
The three rankings rely on several indicators, including academic peer reviews, number of students per faculty, surveys of students' employers, citations in scientific publications, and percentages of international professors and students in each school.
But
ENGLISH BIAS
Critics say that these international rankings don't take into account Latin American universities' social work for the poor, and that they are biased in favor of English-speaking nations, because peer reviews are largely conducted with English-speaking academics, and because most academic publications are written in English.
In addition, Latin American universities tend to be much larger than those in other parts of the world, which hurts them in rankings that weigh in students-per-professor ratios, they say.
Asked about these criticisms,
As for the academic research papers, Baty conceded that most research papers written in English, but added that "we have to accept the reality that English is the global language of scholarly research these days."
My opinion: Critics may have a point in that existing international rankings don't take into account some characteristics of Latin American universities, such as their size or social responsibilities. But creating a regional ranking that will essentially help make the region's universities look good is a mistake.
Latin American universities' poor showing in global rankings is a continental scandal, because there is no way that the region will be able to compete in the global knowledge-based economy without world-class universities.
Instead of hiding from these rankings, the region should use them as a mobilizing factor to modernize and internationalize its schools, as is already happening in a few major universities in the region.
The fact that existing rankings may be biased in favor of English-speaking scholars should be no excuse: Chinese, Japanese and South Korean universities rank much higher, and their scholars were not born speaking English, nor using the Roman alphabet.
In
Doing the opposite will be the equivalent of withdrawing from the soccer World Cup to compete only within the neighborhood. It will be a recipe for complacency, which will leave the region on the sidelines of world scientific progress.
Available at Amazon.com:
At War with the Weather: Managing Large-Scale Risks in a New Era of Catastrophes
- Chinese Investors Are Coming to Latin America
- A Bad Idea for Latin American Universities
- Bolivia - Chile Dispute Could Turn Ugly
- The Sacred and the Dead
- Cuba's Regime Buys Time for Aging Leaders
- Time Magazine's List of 100 Most Influential People a Joke
- Power and Politics in an Autonomous Latin America
- Strategic Implications of Osama bin Laden's Death
- Bin Laden's Death and the Implications for Jihadism
- Final Letter to Osama bin Laden
- Justice Has Been Done
- President Obama on Osama Bin Laden
- Bin Laden and the Return of Common Sense
- Osama Bin Laden Dead
- Osama bin Laden Aftermath
- The Future of the Liberal World Order
- New Fears Over Latin American Economies
- Panama's Economy Is Booming, but Institutions Aren't
- Ecuador's Ouster of United States Envoy Is a Sideshow
- Solving Mexico's Jobless Youth Crisis
- The United States Needs a Crusade for Hispanic Students
- As Latinos Go So Goes the United States
- President Obama's 'New Model' of U.S.-Latin American Ties
- Obama Said He Doesn't Mind Criticism on Libya Mission in Latin America
- Obama's Biggest Challenge -- Central America
- Obama's Card in Latin America: Education
- Nicaragua Headed for One-Man Rule -- Again
- Egypt and Tunisia Could Learn From Chile's Transition
- Time for Colombia to Think Big
- Mexico: Cracking Down
- UK - Latin American Relations: Rearranging The Deckchairs
- South American Stock Exchange: The Way to Go
- United States Should Cut Waste in Immigration Budget
- 'Latin American Decade' or Wishful Thinking?
- U.S. Aid Cuts Could Be 'Diplomatic Suicide'
- Peru Faces a New Threat: Complacency
- It Might Be Time to Rebrand It the 'South American Dream'
- Latin America Needs a 'Sputnik Moment'
- 'Egypt Effect' Will Help Chavez -- But Not Much
- Obama's Trip May Lead to United States - Brazil Honeymoon
- Mexico's Gun Supply and the 90 Percent Myth
- United Nations Should Play a Bigger Role in Haiti
- Haiti Teaches Us Lessons in Life
- United States Cuba Travel to Shake Caribbean -- a Bit
- New Congress to Push Obama on Latin America
- Terror War We Ignore is Next Door in Mexico
- Latin America's Economic Bonanza May Be Short-Lived
- South America Enters Middle East Quagmire
- What Haiti Really Needs: A Lot More Trees
- Culture Matters: Real Obstacles to Latin American Development
- Argentina Needs to Face Education Debacle
- South American Diary
- Obama's Pending Assignment: Reconnecting With Hispanics and Latin America
- Spanish Classes Thriving in U.S. Colleges
- Colonialism Still at Heart of Africa's Growing Pains
- The Empty Chair
- North Korea: The World's Problem Child
- Save the North Koreans!
- For Middle East Peace, Israel Must Prepare for Nuclear War
- Iran Nuclear Talks: A Widening Chasm
- A Sordid Dance in Afghanistan
- Holding the Course in Afghanistan
- As New START Debate Rages, Quiet Nuclear Progress With Russia
(C) 2011 Andres Oppenheimer, The Miami Herald Distributed by Tribune Media Services