LSS: Ratings are a source of information, but not a solution
The emergence of rankings of higher education study program fields has caused considerable confusion in the academic community. The Lithuanian Students' Union (LSS) urges graduates to view rankings as only one of many sources of information, and to evaluate a higher education institution according to their personal priorities when choosing it.
"It is sad that when the rankings appear, there is little talk in society about the fact that there are too many study programs in Lithuania, despite the fact that some programs are accredited for only three years, everything is put in one pile and evaluated equally. The rankings pay great attention to scientific articles, which is certainly not a problem for our higher education institutions, but they do not look at the study program more broadly. It should also be emphasized that there may be several study programs in a field, which can differ like night and day, therefore the conclusions drawn about the fields can only be of a recommendatory nature," says Paulius Baltokas, President of the LSS.
When evaluating these rankings, it is important to understand that students enroll in a study program, not a field of study. The same higher education institution may have several study programs belonging to the same field of study, but they may differ in quality. Higher education institutions are constantly developing new study programs, investing more resources in certain dominant study programs, and thus (intentionally or unintentionally) neglecting others. Therefore, we cannot claim that all study programs in the same field are of equal “quality”.
According to student representatives, classifying higher education institutions according to the number of fields they are best in creates a tendency that those with more fields will be better - the more fields, the greater the probability that one of them will be recognized as the best among higher education institutions. Also, ranking higher education institutions or their fields of study creates another problem - higher education institutions focus on the criteria provided for in the rankings, and not on the real quality of studies, for which a few criteria are really not enough.
"The published rankings of higher education study program areas have caused a lot of excitement, however, I would advise students not to be guided by them alone. Almost every higher education institution holds open days, when interested parties can attend lectures, visit laboratories and form their own opinion about the educational institution," says Paulius Baltokas, President of the Latvian Higher Education Association.
Different ratings have different criteria
Similar confusion was encountered when two magazines ranking higher education institutions were published in the spring. As the entrance exams to higher education institutions approached, the academic community was in a state of uproar over the extremely different results of the rankings. The differences in their results were determined by the different criteria chosen and their unequal weights. According to P. Baltokas, each ranking follows a different methodology, so it is natural that the results may differ. In some rankings, attention is more focused on the scientific activities carried out by the higher education institution, in others on internationality, in others on students' opinions about the higher education institution.
"Even in the world's largest rankings, the results are not always the same. For example, in the Shanghai rankings, higher education institutions that focus most on scientific activity are in the lead, in the Times rankings, academic culture and pedagogical competencies are given great weight, and in the QS World University Rankings, employers' attitudes towards higher education institutions are also important. Naturally, when evaluating different criteria, the places of higher education institutions in the ranking tables also change," says P. Baltokas.
Representatives of the Student Union acknowledge that students should familiarize themselves with the rankings of higher education institutions, but they should make the decision themselves. "The simple truth is, there will never be a correct ranking. However, the rankings provide information that is difficult to access elsewhere, but the student must make the decision himself how to evaluate that information. The rankings should be viewed as a valuable source of information, but they will not make the decision," says P. Baltokas.
