Prospects for the promotion of Russian universities in the international academic ranking ARWU

Abstract

The article considers the methodology for assessing higher education institutions and prospects for their promotion in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). The authors explain the focus of their research by the latest trends in the development of higher education in Russia and in the world; thus, universities positions in international ranking systems become an extremely important parameter for their evaluation. International ranking systems allow to evaluate the whole analytical information according to the criteria in one source, and to assess the competitiveness of the data in comparison with other evaluated organizations in the field. Often a potential student faces difficulty in collecting and evaluating information about the university he is interested in, because it hides its weaknesses, does not provide all information in the open form, or publishes information in various sources that are not easy to find for a person outside the academic community. The article aims at identifying and systematizing the features of the methodology for assessment universities in the ARWU, and at assessing its applicability for the subjects of the Russian higher education. The authors used content analysis and comparative analysis to examine the specifics of the ARWU assessing system according to the criteria provided by experts, and to consider the criticism of this ranking system. The authors identified and analyzed both positive and negative trends in the development of the ARWU methodology; examined the subject rankings of the ARWU system and compared their methodology. The article presents the results of the ARWU for 2021 focusing on the Russian universities, their prospects and difficulties.