West still rules in global education

October 5, 2012 - 10:11 am | Category: World

In most aspects of current affairs, the world’s traditional economic leaders are losing ground to developing nations. But when it comes to top quality universities, the old powers remain firmly in the lead. Of the top 200 universities in the world, 42 percent are in Europe and another 42 percent in the United States and Canada. Add in the countries which are basically European and American settlements – Israel, Australia and New Zealand – and the West’s share comes to 90 percent. Those countries account for only 50 percent of global GDP.

University rankings were published this week by the Times Higher Education, compiled with Thomson Reuters, the parent of Breakingviews. The survey evaluates the universities’ global standing in “teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook”. The method and precise rankings are debatable. Enthusiasts for the humanities will object that criteria favour science and industry. Still, the standing corresponds fairly well to the aspirations of academic and political leaders in both developed and developing countries. The THE rankings also favour a global outlook, which hurts the inward-looking universities in countries such as Japan and Italy.