Recent changes in World University Rankings: an explorative study of Korea and Germany

Both Germany and Korea have recently attempted to improve their positions in worldwide university rankings, introducing major reforms with the aim of funding research clusters and groups. Additionally, Germany has opted to introduce elite universities and junior professorships. The THE-QS World University Rankings, a compilation published from 2004 to 2009, provides some evidence that the mean ranking of German universities did not improve during the observed period. This paper tentatively suggests that this may be due to the fact that Germany is lacking a publish-or-perish promotion system spanning the period from graduation to tenure. In contrast, Korea has implemented a number of “big-push” reforms such as mandatory English curricula, foreign professorships, and foreign-student quotas, all of which have apparently resulted in a massive “brain gain.” In addition, the Korean government’s efforts to make publications in acknowledged journals compulsory have dramatically improved Korea’s research output and apparently contributed to its sharp rise in the THE-QS World University Rankings. Though Korean universities surpassed German ones on average in the short run, the effects of the German academic reforms await further ranking evidence in the long run. Further drawbacks and advantages of the system in Korea and Germany are critically discussed. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015