Take a look at Otago's website - it hits you, straight up, with a huge advertising banner:
Click to view
Then take a look at the actual QS world rankings which Otago formally states its ranking is based upon. QS say, "The 20th edition of the QS World University Rankings features 1,500 institutions across 104 locations & is the only ranking of its kind to emphasize employability & sustainability". They rank 1,498 Universities to be precise. QS state that Otago is ranked no. 206 out of those 1,498 institutions, putting it between 10% & 15% in the world ranking, not the "top 1%". Otago's world ranking has fallen these past 10 years, from about 125 in 2012 - down to 206 in 2024:
Otago University World QS Ranking
Click to view
According to QS, Otago's Medical School, for which it has traditionally been best known, and is where my Dad studied, is now ranked at 144, not even close to being in the top 1%. It used to be one of the world's highest ranked Medical Schools. The Times Higher Education also ranks universities - it places Otago at between 301st and 350th out of 2,671 - that's in the top 10-15%, similar to the QS rankings. Otago is not in the top 1% according to any ranking that I can find. Can the new Vice Chancellor of Otago, Grant Robertson, explain what Otago is reporting, before I file a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority and Minister of Education? Is its advertising to young people fair & accurate, or misleading?
Why is this ranking given such prominence given that these surveys have received severe criticism? "QS do not reveal the response rates for the survey, but statements from QS indicate they are very low (2–8 %), which would make the results highly unreliable". Simon Marginson, a Professor of Higher Education at the University of Melbourne and member of the Times Higher Education editorial board, said in 2012, "I will not discuss the QS ranking because the methodology is not sufficiently robust to provide data valid as social science".
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QS_World_University_Rankings#Criticisms
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2024/world-ranking?page=13#
Professor Robert MacCulloch holds the Matthew S. Abel Chair of Macroeconomics at Auckland University. He has previously worked at the Reserve Bank, Oxford University, and the London School of Economics. He runs the blog Down to Earth Kiwi from where this article was sourced.
Otago University World QS Ranking
Click to view
According to QS, Otago's Medical School, for which it has traditionally been best known, and is where my Dad studied, is now ranked at 144, not even close to being in the top 1%. It used to be one of the world's highest ranked Medical Schools. The Times Higher Education also ranks universities - it places Otago at between 301st and 350th out of 2,671 - that's in the top 10-15%, similar to the QS rankings. Otago is not in the top 1% according to any ranking that I can find. Can the new Vice Chancellor of Otago, Grant Robertson, explain what Otago is reporting, before I file a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority and Minister of Education? Is its advertising to young people fair & accurate, or misleading?
Why is this ranking given such prominence given that these surveys have received severe criticism? "QS do not reveal the response rates for the survey, but statements from QS indicate they are very low (2–8 %), which would make the results highly unreliable". Simon Marginson, a Professor of Higher Education at the University of Melbourne and member of the Times Higher Education editorial board, said in 2012, "I will not discuss the QS ranking because the methodology is not sufficiently robust to provide data valid as social science".
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QS_World_University_Rankings#Criticisms
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2024/world-ranking?page=13#
Professor Robert MacCulloch holds the Matthew S. Abel Chair of Macroeconomics at Auckland University. He has previously worked at the Reserve Bank, Oxford University, and the London School of Economics. He runs the blog Down to Earth Kiwi from where this article was sourced.
9 comments:
To give the new Vice Chancellor the benefit of the doubt, math was never his strong point.
@Valid... Never mind. They have employed a financial mastermind who will do 'what'? Take home a big paypacket?
It’s a clear breach of the Fair Trading Act. Should be reported to the Commerce Commission!
The UOO medical school has slumped in rankings since it started a DEI selection programme where you ignore the best, and take the rest based on skin. I would recommend checking your doctor is not a DEI selection.
Where is Otago in the Shanghai/ARWU rankings?
These are really the ones that count.
2023: in the 401-500 group
https://www.shanghairanking.com/institution/university-of-otago
Dear oh dear! The woke uni has been caught with its pants down. More crap will happen now you have the most incompetent ex finance minister ever holding the purse strings. They will be in the lower half of the rankings by the time Robertson is done with them
chatgpt says: 'As of 2024, there are more than 25,000 universities worldwide.'
i think this is the baseline for otago's claim - what a shame!
Anonymous says: 'As of 2024, there are more than 25,000 universities worldwide.'
Yes, but 23,500 of them are not in the QS rankings, which is what Otago formally says it bases its ranking on. All the evidence which I have points to Otago's claim being false. How can one of our major universities, meant to exist for the mission of a "pursuit of the truth", put up a misleading front page heading on its website? Otago is not in the "top 1%" - unless it wants to argue it is better than, for example, every university in Africa, none of which are in these (QS) "global rankings". If so, that would suggest Otago is somehow smug that it reigns supreme over all institutions in those "kinds" of places, without producing any evidence.
Hum, yes but the University of Auckland should be held to the same standard then. On its website https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/about-us/about-the-university/our-ranking-and-reputation/New-Zealands-world-ranked-University.html#:~:text=No.&text=The%20University%20is%20ranked%2068,students%20representing%20over%20107%20countries. It also brags about being NZ #1 ranked university based on guess what...QS. Either QS is rubbish and you don't talk about it or you use it and then you give it validity. All universities play the game. Get over it.
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