Abstract

ALARCON ORTIZ, Rodolfo; ALMUINAS RIVERO, José Luis  and  INIGO BAJO, Enrique. Quality and global university rankings: a view from latin america. Universidad y Sociedad [online]. 2021, vol.13, n.6, pp. 421-434.  Epub Dec 10, 2021. ISSN 2218-3620.

The centrality of knowledge for the development of nations has led to profound changes in higher education that have generated doubts about its quality. The objective of this article is to identify the different visions of the "quality" of universities implicit in the global rankings ARWU, THE and QS and the advantages and risks of the responsible use of their data, particularly by Latin American universities. The paper presents basic elements of the history of Latin American universities that have marked their evolution up to the present, discusses different conceptions about the quality of higher education and its management, and analyzes the most widespread global rankings, their origins, methodologies, indicators and weightings, similarities and differences, strengths and weaknesses. As a main conclusion, it identifies the need to design a Latin American university ranking that responds to the characteristics of the countries and institutions of the region, without excluding comparisons with similar universities in other countries.

Keywords : Quality; higher education; rankings; global rankings.

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