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Young and free
With 23 ranked institutions Australia punches above its weight .
An analysis of the THE Young Universities Ranking .
By Anand Kulkarni
The recently released 2022 Times Higher Education Young Institution Rankings shows some interesting results . This ranking captures those institutions under the age of 50 years .
Globally , there are 539 young institutions ranked in 2022 compared to 475 in 2021 . This indicates the growing international competition for rankings as more institutions meet the thresholds for inclusion . The young institution rankings comprise the same metrics and pillars as the World University rankings . However , there are differences in weightings . In the young institution rankings , reputational indicators are worth less in the overall score compared to the World University Rankings , due to the fact that it takes time for institutions to develop strong reputations .
Countries which have the most ranked young institutions include India ( 40 ), Iran ( 37 ), Turkey ( 40 ), Spain ( 32 ) and the UK ( 37 ). With 23 ranked institutions Australia punches above its weight . What is instructive is that in some measure , developing or emerging economy institutions are very well represented in these young institution rankings , reflecting the challenge that younger institutions in these nations present . For example , Pakistan has 14 young universities ranked and Malaysia has 13 . A clear exception is China which only has 11 institutions represented in the young rankings , compared to 97 ( out of 1662 ) institutions in the Times Higher Education World
University Rankings . Put alternatively , China accounts for 5.8 % of ranked institutions in the World University Rankings compared to only 2.0 % of the Young Institution Rankings .
The US presents an interesting case as well . There are only six US institutions ranked in the Young Institution Rankings , indicating that most of the ranking activity in the US is associated with older universities . For example , the US accounts for just 1.1 % of ranked young institutions compared to a very significant 11.0 % in the World University Rankings ( 183 institutions out of 1662 ). The US is the overall leader in the World Rankings . Thus older institutions in the US continue to dominate rankings .
As indicated , there are 23 ranked young Australian institutions : the same as last year . Australia accounts for 4.3 % of the globally ranked young institutions compared to 2.2 % ( 37 ranked institutions ) in the world university rankings . Australia in general has a high proportion of young institutions , which will hold it in good stead as these institutions continue to mature and develop .
Compared to 2021 , 10 Australian institutions have improved their rankings in the 2022 young institution rankings . The most significant gains have been for University of Southern Queensland , Charles Darwin University , Swinburne and Deakin , while other institutions including for example Western Sydney , ACU and RMIT have experienced gains . In 2022 , the top 5 institutions are University of Technology ( UTS ) Sydney ( 8 th ), University of Canberra ( 17 th ), Queensland University of Technology ( 21 st ), University of Wollongong ( 24 th ) and Western Sydney ( 31 st ).
In looking at the scores by pillar across the ranked young universities ,
it is evident that the best scoring areas are in international outlook and citations . Australian institutions continue to be highly internationalised although the full impact of COVID-19 has yet to be felt . Citations scores are strong generally , indicating that young institutions ’ research is highly regarded around the world .
To what extent are young institutions in Australia posing a challenge to older , more established institutions ? One way to assess this is to examine the performance of young institutions in the overall World University Rankings . We find that for the World University Rankings , two young institutions ( UTS and University of Canberra ) are represented in the top 10 Australian Institutions in the World University Rankings . Thus , the top echelons for the World University Rankings are still dominated by the older , more established institutions .
If we look at the next 10 Australian institutions in the World University Rankings ( ie numbers 11-20 ) the pattern changes and we find that seven of these institutions are young universities . These young universities range from 193 to 251-300 globally . Beyond the top 20 Australian Institutions in the World University rankings , young institutions dominate . From all of this we can say that at this point the young institutions mainly occupy the middle to lower reaches of Australian ranked institutions in the World University Rankings .
The Times Higher Education Young University rankings reveal that Australia has a strong rankings performance amongst these newer institutions , even if at this point they do not definitively challenge the established status quo . ■
Dr Anand Kulkarni is a higher education professional at Victoria University . The views expressed here represent the author ’ s .
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