Are global university rankings still important? Perspectives from Taiwan

The prevalence of global university rankings in Taiwan was largely attributed to the aspirational goal of building world-class universities. However, a new initiative known as the Higher Education Sprout Project emphasises the importance of the link between universities and local communities. This new policy initiative illustrates a shift from an outward-oriented strategy that is featured by an eagerness to transplant norms and standards from the West for achieving the world-class status to a relatively inward-oriented approach that highlights university social responsibility. Owing to their close alignment with the outward-oriented strategy adopted for higher education, global university rankings were influential in Taiwan. However, the recent shift toward a relatively inward-oriented approach may imply that the close alignment no longer exits. Based on this observation, this paper discusses the possible impact of the policy change on the relevance of global university rankings to the higher education development in Taiwan. Copyright © 2019 CHER/ACLA.